Accidental Visitors
by ScifiWriter012192
Summary: A trip into the woods for three friends turns into dream and a nightmare when they stumble onto a long unused stargate. After arriving in an alternate reality, the girls must face terrible foes, and alien romances.
1. Entrance

**Entrance **

"Thorns! Lots of thorns!" cried Attie hopping away from the thick bushes to her right, almost knocking over Nixie who stood laughing at her friend's continuing bad luck. She fell on the left side of the path with thorns that were firmly attached to her right ankle trailing behind her.

Julia and Nixie couldn't help but laugh at Attie's disheveled appearance. Her red-brown hair was tangled from an earlier incident involving a rabbit mistaken for a rabid ground hog, a short run, and a low branch. And she was still damp from trying to rescue her favorite pair of sunglasses from a fast-pace stream after she had dropped them while trying to get a closer look.

"Shut up!" yelled Attie, picking the thorns from her ankle and torn jeans.

"Didn't I just say 'look out for the thorns on the left'?" asked Julia fighting her laughter.

"They were on the right! I'm just not having a good day…" Attie complained. "And you have no reason to be laughing Nix; you look just as bad as I do." Attie said referring to the tangled mess of Nixie's blonde highlighted hair and the dirt covering her clothing and exposed skin that had been caused by falling down a hill after Attie had tripped on a rock and pulled her friend after her.

"You're the one who pulled me after you!" protested Nixie.

"On the plus side, the dirt really makes your eyes like really _blue_." Julia said to both Nixie and Attie who had also been thoroughly dusted with dirt. She of course had room to brag; she was more athletic in nature and had somehow kept her long, blonde, curly hair pulled back neatly into a low pony tail with pieces framing her tan face and orange-brown eyes.

"Ha-ha," Attie said mockingly. She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and checked it against her GPS endowed cell phone, which was in surprisingly good shape considering it had been in her pocket through everything she had gone through.

"So how much further?" asked Julia squirting her vitamin water into her mouth from her water bottle.

Attie looked up in the direction they had been heading with a confused look and rechecked her GPS.

"What?" Julia and Nixie asked simultaneously.

"Should be right there," Attie stood, leaving her bag on the ground. Julia put hers down as well followed by Nixie and followed Attie over to an overhanging of thick ivy.

Together they pushed aside the ivy vines to reveal a large clearing with a large circle of stone jutting out of the grass with a wide stream running through the bottom that swerved at the vines as if refusing to pass through: also a large podium-shaped rock sat about twenty feet away, both were covered in ivy. They looked at each other astounded and Attie and Nix stepped forward leaving Julia to lug the heavy backpacks to the clearing.

Attie and Nixie hurried to the stream and quickly washed off their faces and ran their wet hands through her hair. After she fixed her appearance as best she could, Attie turned to the stone circle above her and did her best to clear away the vines but the top of the ark must've been at least eight feet high, towering above her five foot one stature.

She managed to clear away enough vines to uncover odd symbols made of what looked like random lines.

"Attie!" Came Julia's voice slightly panicked.

Attie looked over to see Julia standing over the podium-shaped rock that she had evidently cleared of vines.

"What did you do?!" Said Attie running along side Nixie over to where Julia stood starring at what seemed to be glowing squares of glass or crystal. Julia stepped to the side to let them get a closer look.

"I just touched it!" cried Julia in a high voice.

"It looks like controls of some sort," Attie muttered.

"Controls? To what?"

"I don't know," Attie replied in an annoyed tone. "That's why I said 'of some sort'" Julia pouted slightly but walked away to study the markings on the circle.

Before she had time to think about it, Attie started to press the squares, as if something else was whispering to her which to push.

"What are you doing!?" cried Julia from beside the ark.

"No idea," Attie responded in a soft, distant voice trying to concentrate on something she couldn't explain.

Suddenly the space between the curved lines of the ark shot to life with blue light as a small explosion seemed to take place but then recoiled back into the light.

"You broke it!" yelled Julia.

"I did not!" Attie yelled back. "At least I don't think I did…" she added in a quiet voice.

"I think it's just a lights display or something." Nixie guessed.

"In the middle of nowhere?" asked Julia doubtfully. Attie shrugged.

"Got any better ideas?"

"No," Julia admitted, "Just doesn't make much sense is all."

"Give me your hand." Attie told Julia and Nix walking over to the circle and holding out her hand.

"Why?" Julia questioned but took Attie's hand anyway.

Before either Julia or Nix could protest Attie stuck her head and shoulders through the blue light, completely disappearing beyond it. She pulled her head out seconds later, her eyes wide in amazement.

"You were right. Not a lights display." Attie said breathlessly. "You have to see this."

Julia showed little hesitation but leaned into the stream after Attie, still clutching Attie's hand hand, followed by Nixie. As if reading the others' mind, they leaned further, shifting their feet in the moss covered rocks. As they shifted again, their feet slipped, sending them falling though a tunnel of green and black with the faint look of stars. There was a flash of red but then they returned to the green and black; suddenly the tunnel was filled with the same blue light they had seen before.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" cried the technician at the controls.

"From where?" an older man asked, walking briskly from his office.

"I don't know, Sir."

"Raise the shields."

"I cant; whatever it is, it manage to take the shield offline."

"What's going on?" yelled a man barreling into the room alongside another man and a woman.

"Someone shut off the shields and activated the gate." Said the older man.

"Who has the power to do that?"

"No one we know of, sir." Answered the technician.

The two men and the woman were handed P90s and headed down the glowing stairs along with several marines in uniform.

Attie, having closed her eyes at the flash of red in the dark tunnel, felt them spill onto a hard metal floor. Too afraid to move at first, she lay on her stomach, sprawled on the cold floor in a puddle of water most likely from the stream, with Julia lying across her back and Nixie lying atop her.

After a moment, Attie raised her head and opened her eyes slowly. She blinked the water from her eyes as the sight in front of them cleared.

What she saw made her wish that she never opened her eyes. They were surrounded by men in uniforms with guns pointed at the two women. Directly in front of them were three people not in uniform: an attractive man with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a black jacket over a black shirt with black pants; on his one side stood a woman with blonde hair just past her shoulders, big brown eyes, and a dusty complexion wearing a long skirt to her ankles and a tight purple top; on the first man's other side stood a tall, angry looking man with a short beard and dreadlocks with a complexion not totally different from the woman's, he was dressed in a light colored sleeveless shirt - leaving heavily muscled arms exposed - and brown pants. Attie locked eyes with the third man for a moment, and felt as if he now knew everything he wanted to know about her. It took her a moment to realize that he had barely glanced at the two others with her, and his angry, blood-chilling glare now rested fully on her. She looked around to the other two standing with him; they looked more shocked then angry. She couldn't help but notice his glaring at her had not lessened in the least before she looked back to him.

"Who are you?" the man in the middle asked with surprise in his voice.

"He asked you a question." said the tall man in a deep, rough, angry voice that matched his eyes after the three had paused.

"My names Julia Malenti," Julia stuttered nervously.

"Nixie Cald."

All eyes were on Attie.

"Attie Anderson," said Attie quietly. The tall man alone was enough to petrify her, not to mention that fact that everyone in the room had gun save the three young women still sprawled on the floor.

The first man paused.

"Alright let' get them up." He called to the others. Before they could protest, the three unarmed girls were lifted to their feet by strong uniformed arms from behind. "Mr. Woosley?" he called over his shoulder to glowing stairs and a large platform above.

"Bring them to my office please, Colonel," called an older man seemingly in his late 50's from a balcony above them.

"Yes Sir."


	2. Vague Explantions

**Vague Explanations**

Nixie, Attie, and Julia were lead to a room they had guessed was the elder man's office. It was a relatively bare room with a few chairs before a desk. The girls sat in the chairs with the older gentleman leaning against his desk in front of them, the shorter man and the woman from the other room standing behind him, the taller man standing behind the women, blocking the door.

"So where are you ladies from?" asked the older man.

"Earth…" answered Julia.

"Earth? How did you get here?" he sounded surprised at her answer.

"A stone circle in the middle of the woods." Nixie said simply.

The door opened abruptly and another man walked in.

"Sorry I'm late. What I miss?" the newest man said with a light smile at the girls.

"Nice of you to join us McKay." Said the blue-eyed man sarcastically.

"Well I was busy." Said McKay defensively. "So who do we have here?"

"This is Attie, Nixie, and Julia," said the elder man, "of Earth."

"Earth? How'd you get here?" McKay asked the girls.

"Apparently they found a stone circle in the woods."

"Julia touched a big rock that kind of looked like a podium and it lit up these glass crystals," started Attie suddenly finding her voice. She had turned to face McKay who still stood by the door, but had turned back at finding the darker man still glaring uncomfortably.

"And Attie started to touch them," continued Nixie with a pointed tone when Attie had gone silent after looking behind them. She guessed that the man who had to be well over six foot had still been glaring at her. Attie had never been the bravest around people they had just met.

"Attie? Is that short for anything?" asked McKay.

"Atlanta," Attie started to turn to face him but quickly turned back to the others, feeling his glare still on her. "It's kind of a family tradition to name a baby girl Atlanta." She continued nervously. She was trying to stay calm, to keep her breathing under control, her body from shaking, and most importantly the panic she felt from showing on her face. She was always a nervous person so it came to no surprise that she was just short of a panic attack after falling into a mysterious tunnel and falling out in a room filled with heavily armed marines in uniform; though she guessed that very few people, if anyone could remain completely in such a situation. She looked over at Julia and Nixie who sat to her right and managed a small smile. When she thought about it, the thing that terrified her most was probably the tall, tan, muscular man that now stood behind her. Even though she couldn't see him, she could feel his dark glare borrowing into the back of her skull. The look terrified her to a point where she was afraid to move; it seemed to warn that if she did make a wrong move, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

"What were you doing in the woods anyway?" the more attractive man asked.

"We were looking for this location; it's said to have been passed down from generation to generation in my family." Attie said and started to reach for the note in her pocket. She froze as she heard the man behind her draw his gun.

"Ronon!" the woman from behind the desk called raising her eyebrows in an almost silent order. Attie nodded at the woman appreciatively and continued to reach into her pocket, pausing for a moment before slowly retrieving the small piece of paper and handing it to the older man. He looked at it for a moment, and handed to McKay who came forth to take it before turning back to the man apparently named Ronon.

"So know that you know who we are," Julia said breaking an uncomfortable silence, "Can we ask you some questions?"

"I suppose that's fair." Said the older man against the desk.

Almost at once the girls' asked some of the questions that were bothering them, but none of them seemed to dare to ask the real questions one their mind.

"Where are we?" asked Julia, though what she really wanted to know was why if the good-looking man was single because he had been giving her hidden smiles since she had fallen through the circle.

"Who are you guys?" asked Nixie, who desperately needed a bathroom but was too embarrassed to ask.

"And how did we get here?" asked Attie, however she really wanted to ask why the tall man named Ronon so obviously wanted her dead.

The others looked at in surprise not expecting such an organized reply

"Right," said the eldest man regrouping quickly. "My name Mr. Woolsey; this is Lieutenant Colonel John Shepard and Teyla Emmagan," they nodded at use of their names each with a small smile. "That is Dr. Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex." He continued nodding to the men in the back. The girl's turned around to see McKay smile, but Ronon's expression didn't change.

"You came through a Stargate; a kind of portal we use to travel from world to world. We thought there was only one on Earth but your arrival shows evidence to the contrary." Mr. Woolsey explained.

"Unless it's a different Earth…" McKay started looking into space thoughtfully snapping his fingers once.

"Well share with the class." prodded Shepard in a condescending tone.

Julia smiled at John's remark.

"Think about it, we have encountered parallel universes before, it's not that big of a stretch. I mean I know for a fact that there is no way that there were woods at this spot. Of course, it does leave the question of how they got to our reality…" shared McKay before again being lost in his own thoughts.

"And why is that? That there can't possibly be woods there?" asked Shepard, not completely successful in his attempt to not show his annoyance at McKay's sudden silence.

"Because, this spot," said Rodney excitedly, "is in the middle of the ocean."

"Alright, hold up," Attie stood, ignoring Ronon's reaching for his gun again as he was quickly told to put it down from a hand gesture from John. She was aggravated by the fact that they were talking about them as if they weren't in the room. They were talking about portals and alternate realties while three women only in their 20's sat frozen in fear after being tossed from the middle of the woods into a large room filled with guns. "Right now, I'm very confused, and before I get totally lost, I'd just like one simple question answered. Where the hell are we?"

They all looked from one face to another, clearly not sure how to answer. Finally, Teyla straitened her back and did her best to answer her.

"You are in the city of Atlantis; in the Pegasus galaxy," she answered as gently as she could. Attie's eyes went wide as her face went pale and she fell back into her seat, her head spinning. "It must not be an easy thing to hear, but it is true. I'm sure Rodney will find an explanation and eventually a way home for you." She paused looking at Rodney, waiting for him to agree; she continued after a brief grumble of agreement as he again fell into his thoughts. "But for the time being, we ask that you trust us."

Attie glanced behind her at McKay, who she doubted was even really paying attention anymore, and Ronon whose glare was still as strong as it had been when they had first fallen through.

After a moment of looking at each other in what a seemed a silent conversation, they stood slowly both in hope of not alarming Ronon and because they were still slightly lightheaded after the complicated news that they had just received.

"Okay," Julia spoke first, "What do you need from us?"

"Any additional knowledge you have, but first, if you don't mind, we'd like to take some blood samples to be on the safe side," answered Woolsey.

"Lead the way." Added Nixie.


	3. Suspicion

**Suspicion**

"What is it?" Teyla asked Ronon quietly as they lead the girls to the infirmary. She had noticed the look he had given Attie and wondered what the reason behind it was.

"Nothing," Ronon said in a low voice so as not to let the women behind them overhear.

"Ronon," Teyla persisted, "if there is something you find suspicious, it is important you tell us before it is too late."

"You don't find them weird?"

"I find it odd that there is another stargate that we were not aware about, but Rodney is checking the databases and I am sure he will find something."

"Not what meant."

"You mean a feeling? I admit I felt something at their arrival that has not yet faded." Teyla paused before continuing, lowing her voice so even Ronon had to struggle to hear her. "It is not unlike that of the Wraith."

"I was afraid you say that" Said Ronon.

"But it is weak, as if far away. Perhaps they share the gift, but are as of yet unaware of it." Teyla offered. She knew that Ronon wasn't exactly the trusting type, and for good reason, but she had learned to trust him.

"Whatever it is," he glanced behind him and saw Attie look up from their apparent conversation and unintentionally caught her eye before turning back to Teyla. "I don't like it.

Attie felt like she was being lead to death. In front of them were Ronon and Teyla who were talking quietly, and behind them were four marines who walked in a silent purpose.

"How much further do you think it is?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"No idea." Answered Nix, "But is anyone else really creeped out by Ronon?"

"Attie, why does he keep staring at you?" Julia asked.

"How the hell should I know?" Attie said defensively.

"He looks like he wants you dead," Nixie said.

"Dead, funny I was just thinking about that word. Does anyone else feel like this is an execution precession?" Attie joked nervously. She looked up briefly from the conversation and caught Ronon's eye as he turned to look at them. "I know I have a tendency to be over paranoid, but that's getting really creepy."

"Maybe he thinks you're cute," offered Julia before getting a doubtful, questioning glance from both Nixie and Attie. "And has a really weird way of showing it." She added.

"Interesting idea, however doubtful," Attie said with a small smile.

"This might sound kind of weird, but has anyone else been getting this strange feeling?" Julia asked seriously.

"Yeah, I didn't think it was anything thought," Nixie admitted.

"You mean like a tingling sensation throughout your entire body? And by tingling feeling I mean more than the overwhelming feeling of fear." Attie clarified and the others nodded in agreement. "While we're on the subject, anyone got a like a cold feeling like in your gut?"

"Kind of, a little," Pondered Julia.

"Not so much," answered Nixie.

"Weird," Attie said thoughtfully, barley noticing that they had turned a corner and entered a room.

Attie could only guess this was the infirmary. It was filled with neatly made, white sheeted beds, medicine cabinets, and was spotted with an occasional monitor beside a patient. It was mostly empty save a few hurried-looking doctors running around, an unconscious patient hooked up to a heart monitor, and another patient getting stitches on his arm.

"Hello Dr. Beckett, Dr. Keller," Teyla said with a smile to two doctors that were studying an x-ray.

"Hello there Teyla, Ronon," greeted the male doctor, who Attie had guessed was Dr. Beckett in a Scottish accent. "I see you've brought us our newest patients." He smiled at the girls.

"Yes, we have," continued Teyla pleasantly, "This is Attie, Julia, and Nixie. I'd like you to meet Dr. Carson Beckett and Dr. Jennifer Keller." She said to the girls.

"Nice to meet you," Smiled Dr. Keller. "So, let's get started."

Nixie sat down on the far side of the infirmary, the curtain drawn around the bed she sat on for more privacy. She looked up at Dr. Beckett nervously as he swabbed her arm with alcohol. She and the other two girls had been through numerous body scans and had given a complete medical history of themselves with no hindrances and all that was left were blood tests.

"No need to be nervous, love." He said looking back at her with a smile.

"I'm fine." Nixie replied though a dry mouth.

"Don't like needles?" he asked preparing the syringe.

"Not really." She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side.

He looked up at her for a moment smiling. He waited for a moment to see if she would realize that the needle was no longer in her arm.

"All done," he said after a moment.

"Really?" Nixie asked in slight disbelief as he taped a piece of gauze to the inside of her elbow.

"Aye," their eyes locked for a moment, clashing blue on blue. Nixie found that she couldn't help but smile, blushing lightly as she looked into the Scotsman's glowing blue eyes. She looked away sheepishly. "Well, I'm afraid to say that we're done here, you may now go face the boring antics of the IOA."

"Any idea of what to expect?" she asked. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to leave. She guessed that it was because it was the first time in hours, since she and her friends had fallen through what they the gate, that she had actually felt safe. She knew that as soon as she stepped outside the curtain, it was back to being shuffled down the halls by the terrifying Ronon and the slightly sympathetic Teyla.

"Lots of questions: about how you got here, about where you were, what you remember…" his eyes seemed lost for a moment.

"You okay?" she asked concerned.

"Just fine," he said, his eyes looking back at hers and giving her a reassuring wink. "Now let's get you out of here. The sooner you're done with Woolsey, the sooner you can get some rest. Which I'm sure you could surely use after a day like today." He helped her off the hospital bed and kept his hand on her arm to make sure she was steady, knowing all too well how some people reacted to blood being drawn.

"Yeah, that's for sure. Thanks Dr. Beckett." She smiled once more and reluctantly left the curtain.


	4. Tests

**Tests**

"You ever use one of these before?" John asked, handing Julia a P90. It was yet another test that she had to be put through. She had tested several guns already, and was quickly becoming annoyed with never ending line. She thought it was ridiculous, it had only been a few hours since her and her friends – who were now nowhere to be seen – had fallen through a mysterious 'gate' as they called it, and ripped from there own reality and brought here.

"No," Julia answered distantly, pausing before taking stance.

"I know this has got to be hard for you," John said empathetically. "But if you just do what Woolsey says, I'm sure Rodney will figure this out in no time and you'll be on your way home."

"You really think he can figure this out?" she asked.

"Yeah," he gave her a half smile, "He's pretty good at this kind of stuff.

"So, with this gun, you're going to hold it a little differently because of its size." He said changing the subject.

"Like this?" Julia asked while squaring her body off and lifting the gun to her eye.

"Kind of," he stepped behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Lower your arms, just a little… Good. Now, bring your eye to the sight," he slid his hand to the base of her neck with slight pressure. He arranged the gun in her arms so it slipped easily between her one arm and body, placing her other hand in front of the trigger for better aim and a more steady shot. "Try that."

She fired a round and came close to the center of the target but was still several inches off. He slipped his arms around he once again, laying one hand over hers that still held the gun steady, and laid the other on her other wrist.

She felt his body press against her back, his warm breath against her hair; her body tensed.

"Just relax," he said, obviously taking notice of her movements. She wondered if he could hear her heart racing… She quickly put the thought from her mind and forced herself to relax and focus on the task at hand. He shifted her body slightly and told her to fire when she was ready.

"That was good!" he praised as he stepped away from her. She looked at the target and saw that she had come incredibly close to the center.

She placed the gun down on a table nearby.

"What's next?" she asked, secretly hoping to hear the word dinner.

"Let's go get something to eat at the mess. Your friends are probably there already."

As John had guessed, Nixie and Attie, along with several of the others were already eating when they arrived.

"Hey, there you are!" Nixie greeted Julia as she and John joined the group.

"Hey," Julia said, taking a seat between Nixie and Teyla.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Attie asked Julia from the other side of Nixie quietly.

"Alright, how about you guys?" Julia asked, already knowing what they were going to say.

"Fine," Nixie answered first, shifting her eyes to Beckett who sat on the other side of the table and smiled.

"Could be better," answered Attie, nervously glancing at Ronon who sat across from her on the end of the table. "He scares me." She mouthed. Nixie laughed, gathering the attention of the others at the table.

"What's so funny?" Ronon asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," Nixie answered, her smile quickly fading.

"Umm, do you guys mind if we have a minute alone?" Julia asked nervously, looking at John.

"Sure," John said shrugging from the other end of the table. "Just don't be too long." He warned. Teyla told them where the door tot the balcony was kindly.

Attie stood to leave, failing to realize Ronon's legs fully outstretched beside the table. She tripped over him and fell hard to the ground, face forward.

"Okay, ow…" she said getting to her feet with the help of Nixie and Julia.

"Sorry," Ronon said insincerely.

"Perfectly alright," Attie said through clenched teeth, and walked out onto the balcony with the other two.

Once they were gone, the others all seemed to glare at Ronon.

"What?" he asked after a moment.

"That was very rude" Teyla spat in a low voice, leaning forward across the table.

"It's not like I did it on purpose." He defended. "Plus I said I was sorry."

"You have been doing things like this all day, Ronon." Teyla replied angrily. "They are new here, we should treat them with respect. Do you not remember when you were new to Atlantis? You barley spoke to anyone."

"In all fairness, he still doesn't." said John, trying to lighten the mood. Teyla looked at him in annoyance but he just shrugged innocently.

"Alright, I'll lay off." Ronon gave in.

"Thank you," Teyla said leaning back into her chair.

"Tell me you guys saw that!" exclaimed Attie once alone with Julia and Nixie.

"Really doesn't like you does he?" Julia asked.

"Please, that wasn't even the worst he's done today." Attie began. "You should've seen sparring!"

"Teyla let him spar with you!? He's like twice your height!" Julia protested.

"She had to go take care of her son." Attie explained.

"She has a son?"

"Yeah, Torren John. He's so cute. Bout 18 months old she said."

"John?" Julia's face fell for a moment.

"Relax their just friends. Kanaan, the father is with their people on some other planet visiting." Nixie spoke up. "Carson told me."

"Must be pretty good friends to name her kid after him…" Julia said frowning.

"Seriously Julia?" Attie asked astounded at her friend's quickness in finding a crush. "How long have we been here? Like six hours? You already found a boy?!"

"Nixie found one too!" Julia defended.

"Don't drag me into this!" Nixie protested.

"You two are truly amazing! We fall through a magic gate into an alternate time and space and you just can't help but fall in love!? Don't you realize we might not be able to get home?!" Attie turned away from them, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down before turning back. "Sorry. Just… frustrated. I mean why do you two get the guys?" she tried to lighten her own mood. She left out that she blamed herself for getting them stuck here. What if something happened? It would be all her fault.

"Forget that," Nixie said sensing her friend's distress and changing the subject. "I want to hear about this sparring match. I would've loved to see that."

"Obviously he went easy on you." Stated Julia.

"I'm alive aren't I?" Attie said laughing slightly.

Suddenly the door opened and John joined them on the balcony.

"Everything okay? We heard yelling." He said looking at Attie.

"Yeah, just a little stressed." Attie answered, crossing her arms against the cool breeze.

"Well I think that's understandable. But we should get going." He said turning to the door.


	5. Tiresome

**Tiresome**

Attie sighed. They had been at this for hours, but after every "last one", Rodney would come up with another little gizmo for her try. To make things worse, Julia and Nixie were being tested in other fields elsewhere. After leaving the infirmary, the trio had been brought back to Mr. Woolsey's office for more questioning. Other than dinner, she, Teyla – who had been asked to escort Attie – a few marines, and Ronon – who had insisted on his assistance – had had no breaks from miscellaneous tests. Including: gunfire, sparring, and now this torture. For the most part, she had only been asked to touch them, with an occasional gadget she had to try to operate.

"Alright, last one." McKay repeated happily for the umpteenth time before going on yet another search in his lab. Attie wasn't quiet sure what this all meant, but it sure seemed to excite McKay.

"Rodney," Teyla said picking her head up from the table she sat in front of and looked at him sleepily. "How many are left?" She must have asked him similar questions at least five times in the past hour. "We are all very tired."

"I said this was the last one." Rodney said, showing only the slightest signs of being tired.

"Yeah so were the last ten," said Ronon shortly, straitening his back against the wall he leant upon. If she wasn't so tired, Attie probably would've made a joke about his speaking around her after keeping silent most of the day. However she was just happy he had finally put his gun away.

Attie held another machine in her hands after Rodney had handed it to her and thought _on_ as instructed. In an instant, the small machine buzzed to life. As with all the others, she had no idea what it did, so she thought _off_ and put it down.

"Amazing!" Rodney again said as he had after everything she had turned on. She didn't even bother asking why it was so spectacular as she figured, as it had been through most of the day, they would lie or tell her she'd find out eventually. "You can go." He waved her away absent mindedly, studying the gizmo she had just touched.

"Ronon, I will take her to her chambers myself if you wish to get some sleep." Teyla offered when they were outside the lab. Attie leant against a wall and shut her eyes, no longer able to keep them open, and half listened to the conversation. "I doubt she will be a problem." Attie heard the smile in Teyla's voice.

"You go ahead. My rooms not far from hers anyway," she heard Ronon say. _Maybe he didn't hate everyone after all_, Attie thought.

"Are you sure?" she heard the hesitation in Teyla's voice.

"Yeah," Ronon answered. "I'll just shoot her if she gives me any trouble." He knew she was listening. She hoped.

The next thing she knew, Ronon's boot was nudging her leg slightly harder than was necessary. She wondered if she had dozed off. She opened her eyes and pushed herself off the wall.

"Where to?" she asked. Ronon started down the hall in response. She realized Teyla was gone and the guards didn't follow. It was just the two of them; her heart began to sink as fear flooded her throat.

"So are you from Earth?" she asked after the silence had grown too uncomfortable to stand. He didn't answer. "Not a talkative guy are, you?" He didn't even look at her. "You know, I'm just going to keep trying to make small talk until you give up and talk to me."

He stopped abruptly in front of her, and looked at her with an unimpressed expression.

"You don't belong here." He said as if stating a fact.

"Nope," she agreed.

"With any luck, you won't be here long enough for talking to make any difference. You'll go home and I'll forget all about you."

"Ouch. Kind of harsh don't you think?" she answered folding her arms, trying her best to come off as tough as possible. He waved a hand and a door between them opened. He walked away without another word. She rolled her eyes shaking her head, and walked in to the room, closing the door behind her.

Attie was running. She couldn't see it, but she could sense the evil following quickly behind her. The cold feeling she had experienced when she first arrived that day was now amplified to a cold that seemed to steal her very breath. Despite the cold from within, her chest burned as if it was on fire, she wanted nothing more to stop running. Her body ached with each step as if she had been running through molasses for hours.

Her trembling legs finally gave out and she fell onto the unforgiving floors. With fear in her heart, she raised her eyes. The monster loomed above her. It had the body of man, but his face was a pale blue/green, with what looked like tattoos scattered over its skin. It bared its sharp teeth and released a blood-chilling hiss. Suddenly she felt its hunger, its want, its need for her energy. It raised a hand, she watched in horror as the skin of his palm split. He thrust the split palm towards her chest.

Attie sat abruptly in her bed. She was trembling badly, drenched in sweat. She repeated to herself out loud that it had just been a dream, but it had seemed so real…

The next day had gone by much as the same as the first day had for Attie. She had been woken up from her nightmares by Rodney knocking loudly at her door, eager for more tests. After working with Rodney for about an hour or two, she went with him to meet with the others for a quick lunch. Afterwards, she had sparred with Teyla and had done some target practice, alongside Ronon.

By the third day, Attie, Julia, and Nixie were allowed to roam the city without the constant presence of marines. However freeing this was, they were still not allowed to be alone. John had offered to stay with Julia, Carson Beckett with Nixie, and for a reason none could guess, Ronon had again insisted he be Attie's escort, luckily enough, Teyla was with the two as much as she could.

"Are you alright?" Teyla asked as Attie again picked herself from the floor of the sparring room. "You seem distracted."

"How do you mean?" Attie asked, she knew she wasn't acting quite like herself; it was the nightmares. They were always the same monster, but sometimes she wasn't alone. She had at least two or three that she remembered every night since she arrived. She was amazed that after only three days, these monsters that haunted her dreams, had taken such a toll.

"You are even worse than yesterday." Teyla said smiling slightly; Attie glared jokingly at her comment.

"How can you tell?" asked Ronon, who was leaning on the wall beside the window.

"You're funny, really. Ever consider stand up?" Attie retorted sarcastically. After three days, she had had just about enough of him. Even though he still scared the life out of her, she managed to fight it enough to defend herself in their verbal battles.

"Let us begin again." Teyla said trying to break the tension that was quickly building between the two.

Even with Teyla's constant coaching, Attie was again leveled within minutes.

"Why don't you just fight from the floor? It would save time." Ronon added from the wall. Attie kept silent, rolling her eyes and gripping her training staves tightly.

"You seem to be adjusting well, to Atlantis." Teyla commented, she too ignoring Ronon.

"Well the way I see it, whatever happens, happens. No use worrying about the past right? Who knows, maybe there's even a reason behind all this." Attie replied, side glancing at Ronon, waiting a moment for a smart reply that didn't come. Teyla nodded approvingly.


	6. Bad News

**Bad News**

"Hold the club like this," John said, holding his golf club as if he were about to swing. He had been trying to show Julia how to play golf in attempt to cheer her up. She seemed upset, which was no surprise, but he wished she would try to stop worrying. "Then pull the club back like this, and then swing." He instructed as he acted out his words. She did as told, getting the ball a good distance from the city. "Nice one!"

"Thanks," Julia said a slight smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"So how do you like Atlantis?" John asked as they returned to hitting the ball separately.

"It's pretty. Smaller than I would've expected though; but I guess I haven't seen a lot of it yet." She answered.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to do something about that now wont we?" John suggested with a sly smile.

Julia couldn't help but blush and look away when he smiled at her like that. She wondered how he was single; there weren't many guys on the base as it was, and she was surprised no one had made a move on such an attractive man.

"There you are Colonel." Another man joined them on the balcony. Julia didn't even bother to look at him, figuring it was just another science geek wanting to study her.

"Major," Sheppard greeted. "Any problems?"

"No, no problems sir. Just thought I'd come meet one of our visitors." The apparent Major said smiling kindly at Julia as she turned at the mention of his title. His messy brown hair and steel gray eyes highlighted his handsome face that challenged Sheppard's own good looks.

"Well in that case," John said, "Julia, this is Major Lorne. Major this is Julia."

"Call me Evan." Lorne told Julia, still smiling widely at her. Julia smiled back shyly. John looked from one to the other awkwardly.

"Well," John said breaking the silence. "I was just about to take Julia on a little tour before dinner."

"Mind if I join you?" Lorne asked. Sheppard looked as if he wanted to object but jerked his head in agreement. "Where to first?" Sheppard motioned towards the door. Julia looked at him for a moment without him realizing it. She noticed his eyes were downcast as if disappointed and she smiled to herself.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Carson asked. He had taken Nixie up to one of the balconies that over looked almost the entire city.

"Yeah," Nixie agreed breathlessly.

"So how do like the city so far?"

"It's… it's really big." Nixie said, failing to think of a better adjective. She was astounded at the massive size of the city, but everything seemed so unreal. Just a few days ago she was enjoying a regular – if not monotonous – life. She worked at the hospital, came home to a penthouse apartment that she, Attie, and Julia shared, ate a dinner that most-likely came from a box, watched TV, and went to bed. She hadn't been the happiest person in the world, but at least it was _her_ world. She had known where she was in the world, and who she was as much as any could. And now, she found herself in a different reality, planet, and galaxy. "It's a lot to take in."

"Aye, I can imagine." He said with a smile. He seemed so happy in the cool breeze, bathed in the warm light of double suns. "I wouldn't worry though. Rodney'll figure it out."

For a moment they just stood there in a comfortable silence and Nixie was soon lost in her thoughts.

"Carson," Nixie began. "This might sound kind of weird but have you ever gotten a feeling here?"

"Aye, lots of them. But what exactly do you mean?"

"I don't know. Like a cold feeling…" Nixie furrowed her brow as she looked off into the horizon. He placed a hand on her shoulder, pausing, as if not sure how to continue.

"Do you have this feeling a lot?" he asked.

"Just since I got here." She answered honestly.

"Is it strong?"

"What? What do you mean?" She began to get the feeling they were holding out on her, and not for the first time.

"I'm sure it's nothing." He said with a small smile, but he squeezed her shoulder gently as if worried. She let it drop thinking that there was no point in asking.

"We may have a problem." Dr. Keller started. She, Ronon, Teyla, Carson, Rodney, John, and Mr. Woolsey were gathered in the conference room. She had called them down urgently only a few moments ago, giving them strict instructions not to bring the girls.

"Well, what is it?" Rodney asked in an annoyed tone, he had been woken up by this meeting and was eager to get back to bed.

"It's about our visitors." Woolsey began. "It seems they have Wraith DNA. Quite a substantial amount actually."

"Do they know?" Teyla asked in an un-accusing tone.

"Who cares? If their Wraith they shouldn't be here." Ronon stated.

"They're not Wraith." John said defensively. "If they were wouldn't they have tried to feed by now?"

"It's unsure how much of themselves they're aware of. But we didn't tell them if that's what you mean." Woolsey said.

"How much of them is Wraith?" asked Rodney nervously.

"Nixie is only a small percentage above Teyla." Carson said, he had seen the reports earlier and so he was not as shocked by the news now.

"And Julia and Attie?" John said starting to sound outraged that he hadn't been told before.

"Julia is just over 15%. Attie is well over 30%" Keller said as gently as she could.

"Why didn't anyone tell us?" Ronon asked.

"We wanted to be sure before we raised any alarms." Woolsey answered. "But because of their coming from another reality we have no idea how it could affect them."

"So what's the plan?" John asked calmly.

"We let them sleep for tonight. Try to test them tomorrow, to make them stretch their abilities. _But be discrete_. If they are just trying to fool us we don't want them to see us coming." Woolsey said, stressing the last two sentences.


	7. Nightmares

**Bad Dreams**

Attie sat up abruptly in her bed, a cold sweat again pouring down her shivering body like it had been for days. But tonight the dream had been so much worse… so much more realistic… This time she didn't clutch her blankets to her body but flew from her bed and practically ran through the door.

In her dream, the monster returned but this time it wasn't coming for her, it had been coming for Julia.

Meanwhile, Teyla, in her own quarters woke in a similar state. Her body was cold and yet sweat was beading on her forehead. Beside her, in his crib, Torran cried relentlessly. "Wraith." She hissed in the darkness. She too flew from her room, her son in her arms.

Attie ran once she was in the halls, the cold floor furthering to chill her as it hit her bare feet. She soon realized she could not quite remember how to find Julia's room. She told herself it was just a dream; there couldn't possibly be any real danger. But in light of all the recent events that were all of unlikely if not impossible circumstances, she decided not to take any chances. The cold inside her grew.

She realized that by running around like a headless chicken, she was probably just getting herself lost even worse. She stopped dead in her tracks and tried to remember. She cursed herself in the silent darkness for her lack of direction. Suddenly she remembered the way, as if she could feel where Julia was. She returned to running.

"John!" Teyla yelled desperately, banging on Sheppard's door frantically with her free hand, the other held Torren close to her, trying to calm the hysteric child. "John open the door!" she demanded.

Heeding her frantic yelling, he opened the door with a shocked, sleepy expression on his face.

"Teyla what is it?" he asked quickly worried both by the crying child and the unusual panic in his friend's eyes.

"Wraith. In the city." She gasped.

"Did you see them?" he asked his eyes widening further.

"I can feel them. I am sure of it."

"Give me Torran." She handed her son to him without having to hear his reasoning. "I'll drop him off in the infirmary to keep him safe when I go get Rodney. Wake Ronon up and meet me in the control room." They separated without another word.

Attie, finally finding her friend's room, opened the door half accidentally and rushed in. Julia woke instantly and Attie realized that she too was beaded with sweat.

"Attie? What's going on?" Julia asked clearly startled at Attie's slightly disheveled appearance. Attie sighed in relief.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you running around?" Julia asked still slightly in the fog of sleep.

"I had a nightmare. Stupid right?" Attie said catching her breath as she sat on the edge of Julia's bed.

"What was is about?"

"You," Attie began. "You were being attacked by some weird pale monster thingy."

"Life-sucking by any chance? With weird tattoos on its face?" Julia asked skeptically. They had always wondered if fate had brought them together in high school and this whole thing was just further proving the idea.

"And the chance we had the same dream are…"

"Not good." Julia finished. "Should we go check on Nix?"

"Couldn't hurt." They both got up and left the room, linking arms.

"What do you mean the life sensors are down McKay?" John yelled, practically fuming at the clearly frustrated scientist as Teyla and Ronon entered the control room, already armed. Teyla handed extra p90s and vests to John and McKay.

"I mean their down!" Rodney yelled back. "I don't know why! The sensors on this part of the city all seem to be not working!" He said, waving a hand at a large map of the city.

"Fix it." Ronon commanded.

"I'm trying!" McKay said still yelling.

John gave up and looked over at Teyla. "Can you sense where they are?" Teyla closed her eyes without a word and the others watched silently. Teyla opened her eyes, looking startled and started in a half run out of the control room; the others followed without hesitation.

Julia and Attie walked, arm in arm, away from the still sleeping Nixie. She was tossing and turning in her sleep as they entered, but as they tried to wake her, she only shot upright for a moment before falling back into her pillows. She had nearly knocked Attie over with her sudden movement. After they had disturbed her the once, they tried to wake her again but had only gotten swiped at by the now peacefully sleeping Nixie.

Once they arrived back at Julia's door, Attie turned to leave but had found her body unwilling. Julia, knowing her friend as she did, invited her to sit and talk, not wanting to be alone either.

"So, what exactly was your dream?" Attie asked after some brief conversation of their past few days. Julia furrowed her brow and quickly turned serious.

"The thing just came in here and put its hand on my chest and sucked the life out of me. How about you?"

Attie looked down at the bedspread she sat on beside Julia. "I _was_ the thing… I saw through its eyes and felt what it felt."

"And that was…?"

"Hunger." Attie answered, looking up briefly at her friend but quickly returned to drawing shapes into the blanket with her finger. "But it hurt. It was like a fire. There was only way to put it out." Julia looked away as well.

"Have you had any other dreams?" Attie said after a long period of silence.

"Yeah, kind of the same thing, but different." They went on to compare dreams, finding them all very similar. Eventually the conversation drifted back to more lighthearted subjects. Attie told Julia about every thought she had had the past few days, about Ronon and that he was still cold whenever around her but seemed so kind to the others, how Teyla had taught her to fight and was even starting to look out for her in small ways. As Attie went on, she remembered how it had always been so easy to talk to Julia. She smiled genuinely for the first time in days as it felt.

Just as Julia was telling Attie about her recent flirtations with both Major Lorne and Sheppard – pausing as Attie called her a tease – Attie gasped abruptly. She felt as though her lungs along with most of her body had suddenly turned to ice. The cold she had felt early had never gone away but it was nothing compared to this. The cold was so intense that for a moment she seemed to forget to breath.

"Attie, what…" The cold hit Julia mid-sentence. Simultaneously, they looked at the door, eyes wide, even before it opened; fearing the worst. As though answering their thoughts, the pale inhuman creature stood in the doorway. Its mouth was open, the sharp teeth making the hungry smile that more wicked. It let out a kind of hiss that made Attie want to cover her ears, but her body was frozen. Its eyes came first to her, sitting at the end of the bed, closer to him then Julia. It released another bloodcurdling scream.

Attie's mind was filled with thoughts that were not her own. She tried to fight but she was powerless against the voices that were no more than whispers. She stood against her will, staring the monster in the eyes. She tired to clench a fist, but her fingers merely twitched. The thing opened its mouth wider and hissed more quietly in Attie's face.

Its hungry expression quickly changed to anger and he hit her with the back of his hand across the face. It had barley made an effort but Attie flew through the air before hitting the wall and falling to the ground in a crumpled heap.

The creature turned its attention to Julia. The expression turned back to hunger. It began to walk quickly to Julia who sat fearfully at the top of the bed, her back flat against the wall. She tried to fight but the fear she felt was too great and she remained still despite her strongest effort to break free.

It raised a hand, just as it had in her dream, the palm splitting down the middle. Just as it was about to reach her, the room was filled with loud, thunderous noise. The hunger changed to shock and it fell face first onto the floor.

Julia tried to stand, to run, her eyes on the still body. But as she stood her legs gave way and she fell beside the creature, quickly scrambling away until she felt the wall. She used it to steady herself and leaned heavily on it for support. Where was Attie? The thought shot her back into reality as she finally tore her gaze from the body. As she looked up, she saw John hurrying over to her. She threw her arms around him before she thought, leaning on him now for support. He caught her in his arms, steadying her against his own body.

Julia pulled slightly away from him, just enough to look around, and she realized they weren't alone. Teyla and Rodney were in the doorway, guns still pointed at the clearly lifeless corpse. She heard Teyla talking hurriedly into her radio, calling for a medical team. Ronon was huddled over Attie's still body, checking for a pulse. She waited breathlessly for Ronon to react. He quietly called her name and Julia took it as a good sign.

"You okay?" John asked Julia, snapping her attention back to him. She could only nod.

"Attie?" Julia asked, her voiced sounded strangled with fear as she tried to stop shaking. She tried to pull away, but her legs were still too weak to hold her and John again caught her.

"Hit her head pretty hard. But she should be fine." Ronon answered. As though on cue, Attie began to groan weakly.

Julia's eyes shifted from face to face, trying desperately to grasp what had just happened.

"What happened?" Carson's voice came from the door as he moved to Attie. His eyes shot the corpse still on the floor. "Lovely." He grimaced at the word.

"Hit her head." Ronon told the doctors.

"What's going on?" Attie asked, her voice was weak as Carson helped her to sit against the wall. She grimaced at the movement.

"You hit your head, love." Carson answered first, checking her pupils. "Any nausea or dizziness?"

"Yes," Attie said. She had had enough concussions in the past to know she had one now.

"Can you walk?" Carson asked gently, his eyes deep with concern.

"Let me see." Her head was still spinning from sitting up and as she tried to stand, even with Carson's support, her legs gave to her weight. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, a hand grabbed her arm and she fell into Ronon's chest.

"I'm okay." Attie mumbled to stop Carson from calling over the gurney. "I just moved a little fast." She leaned away from his chest and tried to stand up more straight. And with Ronon and Carson's help she managed to slowly walk into the hall and onto the gurney.

John turned back to Julia after watching them take Attie out. His hands had slid to holding her shoulders and her hands had fallen to his chest. She was shaking less noticeably now and she looked up at him, her eyes distant with confusion.

"You probably have a lot of questions." John said unsure of where or if he should begin. She nodded in response.

"I'm sure Mr. Woolsey would rather explain it to all three of you later."

Her eyes shifted away from his but her face kept the same distant expression.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

"Yeah, just kind of dizzy. Stress tends to kick up my hypoglycemia." She told him.

"Let's go get something to eat." He suggested. He was trying his best to hide his worry that that were more Wraith. Teyla gave her a comforting smile as they left room, him still supporting most of her weight. Rodney was still watching the body nervously as they walked by him, but Julia could see a hint of distant concern that she could only guess was meant for Attie.


	8. Confusion

**Confusion**

"Guys, she's waking up!" Attie heard Nixie call out as she opened her eyes. She looked through squinted eyes at the light around her. All that she could make out were shapes quickly lining the bed around her. But one figure stood behind them and was faint with distance.

"What happened?" she asked grimacing at the pain her own voice brought.

"You were attacked." Mr. Woolsey's voice said.

"By what?" she tore her eyes from the tall shadowy figure behind the others.

"That's kind of a long story…" John said, struggling with the words. Attie's eyes slowly adjusted to the light and she opened them more slowly and the figures became more detailed. She found that Julia and Nixie were closest to the head of the bed, each on one side. Teyla between Julia and John; Mr. Woolsey stood beside McKay at the foot of the bed; on the other side stood Nix and Carson. She looked to find the other figure, and found Ronon leaning against the far wall, hand on his gun and a cold look in his eye. Just as he had the first day she arrived. She closed her eyes unintentionally and hoped no one saw why. She thought that he had just begun to trust her.

"We'll explain when you're feeling better." Mr. Woolsey said more gently. She wondered if the tears she felt building behind her eyes were more evident than she thought. But as she looked around, Mr. Woolsey's was the only expression that was soft rather than concerned. She silently cursed herself for getting upset over a guy she had only met days ago and blamed it on her injury.

"You have a concussion but it isn't all that terrible. You should be able to leave the infirmary tomorrow." Carson said. Attie nodded in understanding and her head spun slightly. "You're safe to get some rest, love." And Attie was left alone with her thoughts.

In silence she wondered why it made her so upset. It wasn't like it was the first time she had seen that look. It had bothered her then, but in s much different way. Before the look had left a feeling of fear; but now it just hurt. She couldn't figure out why it bothered her so much. She wracked her brain for answers for what seemed like hours but found nothing. Eventually her headache became too much and she fell back asleep.

After twenty four hours, Attie was more than ready to get out of the infirmary. Julia, Nixie, and even Rodney had visited but Ronon hadn't even come to stare at her from a corner all the while. She would never admit it to anyone but there were a few moments when she would've given anything just to see him, to talk to him. Even if all he did was glare at her. She couldn't explain it, she didn't even understand it herself, but when she was around him, she felt comfortable, even when he looked at her with a glare so sharp she felt light headed. He made her feel braver; even if he was the one she was standing up to. As a teenager, she had always been prone to panic attacks, and even now she had to fight one once in awhile, but panic was the furthest thing from her mind lately, even giving the circumstances. Try as she might she couldn't figure it out and it was really starting to annoy her.

"Can I go now?" she asked Carson after he checked her chart. She still had a headache but she needed to find answers, at least about what had happened the other night. She had a feeling that figuring Ronon out was going to be a long and tedious task.

"Do you still have a headache?" Carson asked ignoring her question.

"If I say no can I leave?" she asked with a smile.

"Alright get out of here. If your headache gets any worse…"

"I'll come straight to you." She finished for him, already off bed and grabbing her clothes from a nearby chair. They had brought her an official uniform; at least for the time being since she only had the one outfit of hers with her (she had been borrowing various articles of casual clothing from people on Atlantis).

He sighed but closed the curtain around her bed as he left. She quickly pulled on the black pants and t-shirt. She put on the jacket even though she wasn't cold. She hoped that maybe, somehow the dark grey and red jacket would make her feel less like an outsider. She looked down at herself. The jacket might make her stand out less, but she certainly still didn't belong. She wondered if she ever would; but for now, figuring out what happened the other night would have to be good enough.

"Hey!" Julia called from down the hallway. Attie stopped at turned to see her walking in her direction, a wide smile on her face. Attie's eyes shifted slightly to find Major Lorne and Colonel Shepherd walking behind her. The Colonel looked annoyed but she doubted it was at her as he glanced at Lorne. "How are you?" Julia asked as she hugged Attie.

"I'm fine. Apparently I don't need to ask you the same thing?" Attie said looking at the two men who were standing several feet away now to let them talk. Julia gave Attie one of her more mischievous smiles that had always resulted in Attie rolling her eyes. "You're messing with one of them aren't you? Julia when will you learn your lesson? It's immature, rude, and just plain not nice!" Attie scolded in a whisper.

"But it's fun!" Julia said in a high pitched, joyful voice.

"It's mean and evil." Attie countered. Julia kept her devious smile. "You and your military boys Julia… You just can't help it can you?"

"Nope! So how are you feeling?"

"Alright, I still have a headache but that's to be expected after being thrown into a wall I suppose." Her face suddenly turned serious and she kept her voice low. "They tell you anything?"

"No," Julia said, also becoming serious. "They kept telling Nixie and me that they'll tell us when you get out."

"How is Nixie? Where is she anyway?" Attie looked around, half expecting her to turn a corner. She had a weird habit of showing up when people talked about her.

"She's fine; I think Carson is off soon. She's probably with him."

"Do you know when they're going to tell us? What happened I mean."

"Tonight I think, I hope." Julia glanced at John and gave a small smile. Attie saw in her face how much she much she liked him.

"Maybe you should keep your efforts in one direction." Attie suggested, and Julia turned to meet her gaze and frowned. Attie raised her eyebrows and shrugged.


	9. Unfortnate Announcements

**Unfortunate Announcements**

Later that night, as Julia had predicted, the girls, Rodney, Teyla, Carson, Keller, Mr. Woolsey, John, and Ronon gathered in the conference room. They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes as Woolsey sat looking around the room, pausing when his eyes came to Julia and Nixie. When his eyes finally met with Attie's, who sat several seats from him, he cleared his throat and stood.

"I trust you're feeling better?" he asked, not having broken his eye contact with Attie. She nodded solemnly. He was certainly taking his time with this… She thought to herself. Her chest was already to feel constrictive from anticipation when he finally began. "What attacked you was a creature called a Wraith." He addressed all three of them now. Despite his experience with public speaking, he was admittedly struggling with his words. He didn't want to scare them, but there was an urgent importance they knew what was going on. "They're aliens, native to this galaxy. They feed on human life forces, taking the persons energy for their own. It's not unusual for them to fly small ships over villages and take people to their Hive ships. But it is unusual to see them here."

"How'd they get inside the city?" Attie's voice sounded forced, her eyes focused unseeingly on the table in front of her.

"We don't exactly know yet." John said from the seat beside Woolsey.

"You don't know how many there are do you?" Nixie accused from the furthest seat from Woolsey, her eyes wide as they searched the faces in front of her. Woolsey looked down, giving Nixie her answer and she took a deep breath to try and stay calm.

"There's more." Julia looked around the room intensely. Her voice was so strong and sure. Attie raised her eyes, but they were immediately drawn to Ronon who sat beside Teyla, across the table. He was looking at her but it wasn't the same cold glare, but she wouldn't have described it as soft either. She again lowered her eyes. Panic threatened to close her throat as she thought about what more there could be after hearing about a life-sucking enemy.

"I'm afraid so." Woolsey bent slightly over the table, bracing himself against his hands, clearly hesitant to go on. He sat down in his chair and looked directly between Julia and Nixie at Attie, who still fixed her eyes on the table. Attie felt his gaze but lacked the strength to look up. She had felt the color drain from her face, long moments ago. She sat statue still, trying not to shake.

Keller began slowly at a nod from Woolsey. "Yesterday afternoon we got your blood work back. You may be aware that the old owners of the city were called ancients and their genes are still carried by people today. Each of you has a substantial amount of the gene in your DNA. Attie has the most as 50% of her DNA holds that gene. Julia, you're at about 40% and Nixie at about 25%. This gene makes it possible for you to operate the technology here. Of course, most people on the base only have a small percentage of the gene and have a harder time with it then you probably will."

From past experiences, Attie knew as well as Julia and Nixie that people almost always started with the good news before the bad. Attie felt her chest tighten as she feared what came next.

"Years ago however," Carson continued for her. "A Wraith performed experiments, mixing humans and Wraith in attempts to make the food source more palatable. The other Wraith didn't exactly approve and destroyed the site. But not before some were released back into their villages. Teyla happens to be a descendant of one of those actually."

"Are trying to tell us were related to those… things?" Julia asked, completely shocked by the very idea of it.

"Part of you is, yes." Carson answered gently.

"How much?" the words caught in Attie's throat, barley escaping as more than a breath.

"Well, Nixie has very little," he smiled at her. "barely more than Teyla. Julia has slightly over 15%." He paused.

"And me?" her voice rose slightly in unavoidable panic and her voice cracked as she struggled to control the volume. Her eyes never left the table, though her mind felt far away.

"Well over 30%; 36% to be exact." He too dropped his eyes.

Attie couldn't believe what she had just heard. Panic gripped her entire body in icy hands as she struggled to control her breathing. She searched her mind for something, anything else to think about. She felt her body tense, her chest started to burn and she closed her eyes.

"I think we're done, if you'd like to go have some time to yourself girls." Woolsey offered. Attie stood slowly, still fighting for control of her own body as she left the room.

Her chest felt impossibly tight, her heart beat lost in the sound of her ragged breathing. She didn't know how long it had been since she had left the room or how long she had been picking up speed, but she realized now she was practically running to an undetermined destination.

She went through the next door she saw and found herself on a balcony overlooking the city. She realized she must have either run up an incredible amount of steps or gotten into a transporter without it transferring into her conscious memory.

She threw herself at the railing, forcing the air from her chest and making her inhale sharply. She gripped the railing until her knuckles turned white. She fell to her knees, her head bent as she gasped for breath; her hands refusing to loosen their grip on the rail. She ground her teeth together and forced her breathing to slow, closing her eyes. It began to work, but suddenly her dream from the other night replayed in her head. She saw herself open Julia's door, saw her hand reach for Julia… Her eyes flew open. She had only told Julia that she had felt what the creature had, not that she had been the creature.

Her eyes threatened tears, but she fought them back. She wouldn't loose control here. It had been so long since her last panic attack she had almost forgotten what they felt like. She successfully fought most of the tears, letting only a few escape, but could not control her gasping, suffocating lungs. She tried to calm herself down by focusing on her breathing, focusing on slowing down.

After Attie had left the room without a word, Julia looked from face to face as Nixie starred blankly at the table, both trying to grasp what they had just been told.

Julia met John's eyes, and he walked over to Attie's now empty seat, and sat down. He silently held out his hand to her, not knowing what to say. She looked at his hand puzzled for a moment, but then laid her hand in his. He stood slowly and led her from the room, entwining their fingers.

Keller and Mr. Woolsey had left, leaving Nixie with Carson eyeing her carefully. At the other end of the room, Teyla sat looking at Ronon until she finally sighed and left the room, Ronon following closely, grabbing Attie's forgotten jacket on his way.

"Are you alright, love?" Carson asked after another long pause of silence. Nixie shook her head slowly.

"Not really."

"Would you like to get some fresh air?" She looked up and studied his gentle face for a moment, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"Actually," She laid her hand on top of his. "Some fresh air sounds pretty good." He smiled and slipped an arm around her as they left the room.


	10. Reaction

**Reactions**

John led Julia outside onto the pier; the setting suns bathing them in orange-gold light. She hadn't said a word since they had left the room. He squeezed her hand gently as he gave her a comforting smile. For a long moment they stood in silence, hand in hand looking out onto the water.

Julia's thoughts were racing as she watched small waves ebb and flow. The briefing had only raised so many more questions than had been answered. How could this happen to them? How could they be something without knowing it? If the genes were so strong in them, how come they didn't have any idea about it before?

"How come I have both genes?" Julia asked, suddenly breaking the silence that had formed around the two. "If the Wraith are evil wouldn't they be enemies of the Ancients?"

"They were," John tried his best to explain as he searched for the right words. "are. At least here they are. We have no way of knowing how the wraith acted in your reality."

"How did it find us?" she kept her gaze on the ocean.

"Wraith can connect telepathically with each other. Teyla can connect with them with some effort."

"Is there some reason they would seek us out?" Julia asked cautiously.

"Why?" he eyed her warily as he awaited her answer.

"Attie and I," she slowed her speech from rushing to form a single sentence. "We both had a nightmare that it came to kill me." He shifted his eyes downward but his face was turned to her still. He opened his mouth but then closed it again. He turned his body so that they stood face to face and looked into her eyes. "It's dangerous for me to be here isn't it? Not just for me, but for everyone here." She clenched her teeth as she fought tears. "For all you know, they could've followed us here. We may have led them right to you."

"Hey," he looked at her, sincerity flooding his eyes, and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, never letting go of her hand with his other. "Let us worry about the wraith. I'm sure it's just coincidence. But if you, any of you, have any more dreams like that, let me know, just so we can rule it out." She nodded in compliance and he smiled at her.

Not long after, Carson and Nixie found themselves walking along the pier as well. Carson had his hand softly on the small of Nixie's back as they walked up to the other pair who were now sitting at the edge of the wood still hand in hand.

"Hey guys," John greeted with a smile that Julia couldn't definitively call sincere or not. He almost seemed surprised to see the two, or perhaps it was just that they were both smiling that perplexed him. Nixie's eyes were slightly pink-rimmed but all traces of sadness or frustration had otherwise disappeared. She took a seat beside Julia with Beckett close behind. He kept an arm around her as they all talked for what felt like effortless hours. Eventually Beckett and Shepard went inside to get some dinner and brought a large basket back outside to the girls. They talked about the differences of the two realities and for the most part the conversation stayed on cheery subjects. Nixie somehow ended sitting in front of Carson with his legs outstretched on ether side of her as she leaned back against his chest. John sat cross legged, propping himself on one hand, his other still held Julia's tightly.

After what seemed like forever, Attie had finally managed to sit up against the wall opposite of the railing. But eventually reality weighed to heavy and she pulled her knees against her chest, burying her face in her arms that lay folded atop them. She felt the cool breeze brush against her bare skin but she ignored the need to shiver. She knew that it was probably night by now, that she should go inside, maybe get something to eat and find the others. But the more she thought about it, the more oppressive the very thought of walls felt. Unasked questions faded in her numbing mind. She didn't want to think anymore, it was too hard to fight the tears when she thought. So she sat, curled with her back against the wall, her face buried in the darkness created by her own body. But every time her eyes began to close, thoughts rushed her mind. So she starred into what seemed like unending darkness, her mind void of conscious thought as the silence formed a protective barrier around her.

The sound of the door opening sliced through darkness. She wondered if she had somehow managed to fall asleep as heavy footfalls circled to her other side. She heard someone sit beside her but refused herself to wonder who it was. She forced herself perfectly still as a light weight was slung over shoulders. She realized it was the jacket she had left in the room during the meeting. She had completely forgotten it as she had fled the room.

"Are you awake?" The deep, rough voice asked. Attie simply raised her head and laid it back against the wall behind her in response. Ronon saw the emptiness of her expression and guessed she wasn't in the mood to talk. They sat in silence for long moments.

Why had he been the one to find her? She had expected that they would eventually wonder where she had gone, but she would've guessed that Julia, Nixie, or even Teyla over him. She thought that the return of the cold glare had meant the return of his want for her death. For a moment she let herself entertain the notion he had come to kill her. She imagined all the ways he could get away with it so far from everyone. Of course she only guessed that she was far because the thick silence; she still had no idea to where she was. His voice snapped her out of her dark imaginings.

"You know you shouldn't run around the city alone." He said simply. She could only guess by the tone in his voice that he was as uncomfortable as she was.

"Sorry," her voice was thick even in the single word. He didn't know what to say. In what movies he had seen, people always asked if the upset person was okay, even if it was obvious they weren't. He thought it was a dumb question, but couldn't think of anything better.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a sigh.

"Peachy," her tone was flat. She was starting to get frustrated at the unwilling company. Finally she gave in and turned her head slightly against the wall, just enough so she could see him if she looked out of the corner of her eyes. "Why you?" she couldn't keep the resentment completely from her voice. He gave her a puzzled look. She turned her head the rest of the way but kept the top of her head against the cool wall. "Why did you come up to find me? You obviously don't trust me, or like me for that matter. Or maybe that's why it was you. You didn't want anyone else to run the risk of coming up here, just in case right?" Her voice turned bitter and hurt. She rolled her eyes looking away, and bent her head into the heels of hands.

He looked at her in silence. He wasn't angry at her accusing tone, but wasn't sure how to answer her questions without making her confusion worse.

"Does anyone trust me?" She continued her questions in a softer voice and he took them as rhetorical. "They have no reason to right? For all they all know it's my fault the wraith are even here. For all _I_ know it's my fault!" She stood up and began to pace along the terrace. He watched, still and silent, as her ranting became more directed at herself. "This is unreal! This _cant_ be real! It just… doesn't make sense! I mean, I've always been the one giving the unrealistic ideas the benefit of the doubt, but this? It's like some crazed science fiction writer having a field day! I mean who accidentally falls through some weird lights display in the middle of the woods and ends up in another reality/galaxy with life sucking aliens? Not to mention the giant guy with dreadlocks who acts like I tried to kill him! No offence." She said briefly regarding him before again launching into her rant. He raised an eyebrow but let her go on, partly because he knew she needed to get it off her chest, and partly because he was afraid to stop her.

"And of course my supposed best friends are off who knows where, probably with military boys and a doctor! But of course it's my fault we're even here." She halted her pacing and looked up as if suddenly realizing an obvious truth. "This is my fault. Oh my God, this is entirely my fault. I couldn't just keep my hands to myself. I had to…" She folded her arms, turning to the railing and sighed. "Not listen. If anything happens, it's my fault." She felt a firm hand grip her shoulder. She glanced behind her; she hadn't even heard him stand. "How did you…?"

"It's not your fault." He cut her off. "You had no idea this would happen."

"But I…"

"It's not your fault." He insisted and she gave up, she turned her attention back to the view of the darkened city. His hand slipped from her shoulder and he came to lean against the railing beside her straight figure.

"This is really screwed up." She leaned down next to him. "My whole life I've always complained about it being too ordinary. Now look at me, one little trip to another reality and few life sucking aliens and I'm out here spilling my guts to someone who might want me dead." she said, her mood starting to lighten.

"Trust me, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now."

"Well, that's good to know." She smiled despite herself. She was about to say something else but something stopped her.

Suddenly she heard whispering, but it sounded odd, like it was coming from her.

"Are you okay?" Ronon asked suddenly looking concerned. As she looked at him, flashes of the corridors quickly flew by. A face of wraith abruptly broke into view and seemed to come at her through her thoughts.

She realized suddenly that she was stumbling backwards and Ronon quickly caught her. "What is it?" he asked in a low voice. "What's wrong?"

"They're coming," she realized only now how breathless she was. "I just… They know we're out here." He helped steady her and pulled out his gun, switching it off stun.

"When I tell you to run, run. The transporter's down the hall to the left." She nodded gravely. "Just stay close."

He waved his hand to open the door and stuck his head out of the doorframe before stepping out into the hallway. He nodded to her and she slowly entered the hall behind him.

"Let's go." He ordered, and quickly started in the direction of the transporter.

Ronon pushed Attie to the ground just as a beam of blue light soared over where she had just stood. She didn't wait to look at what had just shot at her, or even for the order to run from Ronon. She scrambled quickly to her feet and started for the transporter.

She risked a glance behind her and saw that Ronon was down; his gun midway between him and her. She looked up to the direction of the slowly approaching wraith and quickly ducked behind a wall out of sight.

She knew what she had to do, but it all seemed like it belonged in some sort of movie rather than reality. Of course it was only now that she realized how relative that term truly was.

Attie sprinted from the behind the wall and the beams started to fire again. She swooped to pick up the gun without pause and fired it blindly in the direction of the wraith, keeping her eyes locked on Ronon. She grabbed his arm and slung it over her shoulders awkwardly and wrapped her arm tightly around his waist, dragging the rest of his body. She managed to pull him into the transporter without getting hit by enemy fire. She pressed on the center of the glowing map in haste to be anywhere but there, but just as the doors were closing a stray shot of a wraith gun slipped into the transporter and hit Attie square between her shoulder blade rendering her unconscious.


	11. Converstaion

**Conversation**

Only a few moments later Ronon jarred awake, expecting to find himself surrounded by wraith. He looked around at the small room and found Attie slumped against the wall beneath the glowing map.

"Hey, wake up." He said lightly shaking her shoulder. She moaned in protest but jolted awake after a moment, her eyes wide in panic.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked confusion and fear plain in her face.

"They're called stunners."

"I thought they were wraith?" Attie interrupted.

"Their guns are stunners. The guns don't kill their prey so they can later."

"Well that's disturbing." She was starting to feel the grip of panic once again.

"Are you okay?" he furrowed his brow as she starred wide-eyed directly ahead of her.

"Just trying not hyper ventilate." She answered quickly.

"Come on," he stood up and held out his hands to her to help her up. "We should let the others know."

"Are you sure it's safe?" she said still sitting.

"Only one way to find out." He half-smiled at her.

"Do you get a kick out of almost dying or something?" she asked annoyed at his answer. The other corner of his lips pulled into a full smile and she couldn't help but smile back. "Here's your gun by the way." She picked it up from where it had fallen and held it out to him. But before taking the gun from her hand, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks." He opened the door and hesitated for a moment before giving her the all clear.

It was a long walk back to the control room but Attie was just glad to have Ronon with her. They made most of the walk in silence. He had longer legs than she did, but she had no trouble keeping up with him. She guessed that he was walking slowly for that purpose exactly.

"Thanks." He said out of the blue.

"For what?" she looked up at him but he kept looking ahead.

"You didn't have to come back."

"Of course I did. You came to talk to me – whether you wanted to or not – when I needed a friend." She smiled up at him, not caring whether he saw or not. "I wasn't just about to let you get eaten." He looked down at her and returned her smile.

"Ronon," she spoke up after reaching the control room. "if you don't mind I'm going to skip the whole briefing thing and go get cleaned up."

"Alright," he answered briefly. She hesitated for a moment but covered it with a small smile and turned to go. He caught her arm as she turned. "I don't know if you're hungry, and I'm pretty sure everyone else ate." He scratched the back of his neck and she fought a smile at his wariness to continue.

"I'll meet you in the café? Mess, whatever." She offered. He nodded with a smile of gratitude. She walked away wondering if this counted as a date, or just a dinner of thanks.

As he entered the mess, he spotted her immediately. She was seated amidst a large group of marines that were chatting relentlessly. She was seated next to Lorne who was laughing at some unheard joke. She was smile politely but he could tell she was bored, even from across the room.

As Attie saw Ronon walk among the tables, her heart almost skipped a beat and she quickly averted her eyes as she felt her face lighten.

"Hey," she said casually when he reached her.

"Hey," His face almost seemed bored. "You want to get some fresh air?"

"Sure," she agreed and stood. "Thanks for the company guys." She said to the table full of marines.

"You probably shouldn't encourage them." Ronon said jokingly as they walked outside after getting their food. Her tray was scarce compared to his that was piled with food.

"They were just being nice." Attie said. She was starting to get annoyed that she seemed she was loosing the ability to not smile around him.

"Did you sit with them?"

"Nope, I sat and they all kind of…" she searched her brain for the right word. "Flocked around me." He laughed lightly at her description. "How did the briefing thing go?" she said eager to change the subject.

"Fine." he said simply. "They're sending a team up there."

"Shouldn't you be with them?"

"They told me to stay with you."

"They say anything else?" she asked after a brief silence.

"No." he replied shortly.

"Oh? It was that exciting huh?" she asked skeptically. He only nodded in response. "So…" she asked after a long pause. She wondered when the meeting had taken such an awkward turn.

"What?" he looked up from his meal.

"Nothing. Is everything okay?" she questioned.

"Yeah," he looked back down at the tray in front of him and returned to eating.

She waited through another long period of awkward silence.

"Thanks, for coming to find me earlier." She said tentatively. She was almost becoming desperate to break uncomfortable quiet. "If you hadn't I may have been wraith food." She was almost getting used to saying the name. Almost.

"Sure."

"Alright what's wrong?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he insisted.

"You're a terrible liar. Please tell me what's wrong?" she dipped her head trying to see his eyes. He paused but met her eyes. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest; a stubborn look crossed his features. She sighed rolling her eyes and mimicked his posture down to the set jaw and determined eyes.

Unending moments passed as they simply watched each other. Neither of them moved or even broke the hard gaze. Finally Attie had enough and stood without a word, taking her tray as she walked to the door and waved a hand over the crystals on the wall to open it. She was sick of his mood swings. She didn't care whether he liked her or not anymore, as long as he would finally choose how he felt.

He watched her rigid movements and quirked his mouth.

"You shouldn't walk around the base alone." He called as the door opened, still unmoved in his seat.

"I can handle it." She said turning sharply to face him.

"You don't know your way around." He argued.

"I'm sure Major Lorne would be happy to escort me." She said in a biting tone. She turned back to the door but paused as she heard Ronon's chair grind against the floor.

He stood towering above her, his face was still hard but there was amusement in his eyes.

"Just tell me what's wrong." She more asked than demanded in avoidance of another glare-off. He closed the door and went back to the table and sat down. She watched him unsure of how to react. She decided to follow him back to the table and take the seat opposite of him.

"They want you to leave." He said quickly, leaning over the table.

"I thought that's what you wanted?" she leaned back in her chair, watching him carefully.

"They think that you're part of it. That you may be working with them."

"They think I'm wraith? But I don't…" she looked away from him, her face contorted with worry.

"You are wraith remember?" he said semi-cheerfully. She chuckled weakly.

"How could they think that?" She felt completely defeated, like there was no point to fight their judgment, no matter how off base it was. "Why would they attack one of their own?"

"They think that you gave them information accidentally." She looked at him puzzled. "They can talk without talking." He tried to explain.

"What?" she asked more confused now then a few minutes ago. "You mean like telepathy?"

"Yeah that."

She sighed taking that in. She was momentarily surprised that it didn't make her panic. "So they think I'm like an accidental spy?" she asked doubtfully raising her eyebrows. "That's different." He smiled at her calm reply and she grinned weakly at him.

"Come on, you should get some sleep." He stood, taking both trays, and opened the door for her.

"Ronon?" she started as they reached her door. He stopped and turned to look at her. "You and Teyla, you had to deal with wraith all your lives didn't you?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah," he said unsure of where she was going.

"So you know how to fight them pretty well right?" she couldn't believe she was asking him this but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Yeah," came the familiar reply.

"Will you teach me? At least try?" she asked adding the joke lightly.

"You're pretty hopeless." He said furrowing his brow.

"I know." she smiled lightly. He seemed to study her for a moment.

"Meet me in the mess for breakfast. You do know how to get there right?" he joked at her expense.

"I'll manage. Good night Ronon." She opened the door and walked inside smiling. As the door shut behind her, Ronon's face split into a wide smile as he walked away.

"Well this is your stop." John said as he stopped in front of Julia's door.

"Thanks for walking me back." She smiled at him.

"Sorry for keeping you up so late." He smiled back.

"That's okay, I doubt I'll sleep much tonight anyway." She replied honestly.

"My rooms just down the hall if you need anything." He paused before walking away. Julia looked past him for a moment and he turned to see what she was looking at. Attie stood outside her door further down the hall talking with Ronon. They were both smiling slightly and Julia took it as a good sign.

"They seem to be getting along better." Julia said noticing Ronon's smile as he walked away and Attie retreated into her room.

"Ronon's a good guy, once you get to know him." John said turning back to her.

"He's not the only one." she said sincerely. They both looked at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Well good night." John said, hesitantly talking a few steps backward before turning.

"Good night." she called after him. She waited for him to disappear around a corner before hurrying to Attie's room.

Attie jumped as Julia burst into her room.

"You could knock!" she exclaimed as Julia practically hurtled onto the bed beside Attie.

"Like you were going to sleep anyway." She said and Attie only shrugged. "Where were you tonight?"

"Having a panic attack, getting attacked by wraith, and finding out that the people here think we're spies."

"You what? They what?" Julia asked in surprise.

"I was goodness knows where freaking out, when Ronon found me, I freaked out some more…"

"Ronon?" Julia interrupted, hinting the name held some unidentified meaning.

"And then I felt the wraith were coming," Attie continued and Julia laughed when her comment was merely ignored. "We ran, he got 'stunned' or something, he told Mr. Woolsey or someone about it and then we got some dinner." She explained in a rush.

"So why do they think were spies?" Julia said and Attie laughed in turn at the calmness Julia took that.

"Apparently the wraith are like telepaths or something and we might be accidentally telling them stuff." She shrugged. It was much easier to talk calmly with Julia. Now it just seemed like she was talking about a story idea she had like they've been doing ever since they were teenagers.

"So Ronon just told you all of this?" Julia asked in a higher voice than normal, like she always did when she was surprised.

"It wasn't easy trust me. The guy does not like to talk."

"Yeah John told me he took some getting used to." She said, partially just to bring up that she had been with John tonight.

"John? So that's where you were all night." Attie smiled knowingly.

"We were having dinner on the pier with Nix and Carson!" she defended. "And you say I have a dirty mind!" Attie raised her hands innocently.

"Did I say anything?" Julia glared playfully at her and they both started to laugh.

Just then the door opened and Nixie came barreling into the room and flung herself onto the bottom of the bed.

"Hey Nix," Attie said as if this was a normal thing to expect from her. "How was your night?"

"We're in another time and space, could at least pretend to not know what I'm going to say?" Nixie begged as flipped herself over and sat in front of the other two so that they were in somewhat of a triangle.

"We may be in another time and space but you're still predictable." Julia answered for Attie. Attie thought nothing of it; Julia had always known what she was going to say.

"So, Julia you choose a boy yet?" Attie asked pointedly of Julia.

"Yes, I think so…" Julia began.

"You're still going to mess with the other one aren't you?" Nixie asked disapprovingly. Julia pouted jokingly.

Attie pulled a pillow from behind her and hit Julia over the head with it.


	12. More Questions

**More Questions**

"Hey Ronon." John said with teasing smile as he took his seat across the table at breakfast. Teyla, who sat beside John, exchanged a puzzled look with Carson who sat beside Ronon across from her. "What did you do last night?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ronon asked in a gruff voice.

"Nothing, just wondered what you did last night." John explained innocently as he took a bite of his food. "Heard you got attacked by wraith." His face momentarily went serious but quickly returned to his teasing expression.

"Yes, they sent a team but only a few bodies of the wraith were found. What happened?" Teyla asked generally concerned, ignoring John's tone.

"They way I heard it, Attie saved his butt." John answered, still watching Ronon with an almost knowing smile.

"Who saved who from what?" Rodney asked, coming from seemingly no where as he sat on the other side of Teyla.

"Attie apparently saved Ronon from wraith last night." Carson summarized, eyeing Ronon and Sheppard feeling as if he had missed something.

"Wraith?" McKay asked sounding surprised. "That's weird, there were no unaccounted for life signs."

"Isn't it broken?" Ronon asked, keeping his annoyed gaze on Sheppard.

"For some reason, it wasn't picking anything up the other night in the region of the girl's room, but its working fine now." McKay explained as he dug into his own breakfast.

"Hello." Dr. Keller greeted cheerfully as she sat beside Rodney. He greeted her with a small smile as he swallowed hard and kissed her. "So what are we talking about?" she asked as her eyes shifted to the two men still staring at the other with differing intensities.

"Attie saved Ronon from wraith last night which the life detectors didn't pick up, and I have feeling that we missed something." Carson said, expressing his thoughts. "Teyla?"

Her head came up from the food she was staring at unseeingly. "Yes Carson?"

"Are you feeling alright love? You're very quiet today."

"I guess I am just worried about the wraith." The others waited patiently for her to explain further. "I do not understand why I did not sense them."

"Attie did; right before they got to us. It nearly knocked her off her feet." Ronon brought up.

"Well it makes sense she'd be able to sense them." Jen added.

"But why stronger than Teyla?" John asked the table. "You'd think that having less experience, she'd be the one to miss it."

"Is anyone going to say what we're all thinking?" Rodney said. The table stayed silent. "It might just be possible that the girls coming and the wraith's arrival aren't completely separate occurrences." They all seemed to take this in before John finally spoke.

"Check into it." Rodney nodded.

The table grew quiet as the girls, that seemed to be on everyone's thoughts this morning, entered the mess laughing. Julia was the one who had caught their attention, her laugh loud and carefree as she hung her head back with the joyful sound. Attie and Nixie were on either side of her, hands covering their mouths, laughing almost silently. Julia said hello to Major Lorne as she passed him with more enthusiasm that was called for and John's amused grin fell. Attie immediately locked eyes with Ronon and smiled as she went to get her food with Nixie and Ronon's hard glare was lost as he nodded in her direction.

"Hey," all three girls said in unison as they sat simultaneously at the table, which sent them all into more laughter.

"We've been doing that all morning." Nixie explained as she chuckled from her seat at Carson's side.

"You are certainly in a good mood this morning." Teyla said addressing the three.

"Hey I'm alive after two wraith attacks. Of course I'm happy!" Attie exclaimed from the chair next to Ronon.

"You're like a wraith magnet or something!" Julia joked from the seat beside John.

"Am not!" Attie protested.

"Are too." Nixie joined the joke. The others at the table exchanged more looks of confusion at the sudden cheeriness of the three. This was the happiest the expedition members had seen them since their unplanned arrival. "Face it Attie, you got attacked by wraith twice within two nights."

The comment stung Attie slightly as she remembered Ronon's words. But she laughed anyway; though it sounded slightly forced, even to her.

"So Attie, how was your night?" Nixie asked pointedly after a moment of quiet.

"Alright, now I know we've missed something." Beckett stated. Attie raised her eyebrows at Ronon in question but he simply looked in John's direction.

The conversation continued until they were finished their meals and for several moments afterwards.

"Alright," Sheppard began leaning back into a stretch in his chair. "Woolsey wants us to make a sweep of the area Ronon and Attie were in last night." He said talking to the team – Ronon, Teyla, Rodney, and himself.

"I thought there was already a team up there." Rodney whined.

"He wants us to double check." John turned to the rest of the table, Julia in particular. "It should only take a couple of hours. You ladies think you can keep busy that long?"

"I'm sure we'll find some way to entertain ourselves." Julia ensured flirting obviously and Attie sighed along with an eye roll from Nixie.

"Good." John said ignoring the two. "We'll be back in time for lunch." He added as he walked away.

"Maybe," McKay mumbled as he kissed Keller goodbye. Teyla smiled at the girls before walking away beside an annoyed looking Ronon leaving only Carson, Nixie, Julia, Keller, and Attie spread around the table.

For long moments they all sat in silence, unsure of how to start a conversation.

"So, Dr. Keller, how long have you and Rodney been dating?" Attie tried.

"Jen," she corrected with a small smile. "About seven months. What about you three? Any boyfriends?" she asked cheerfully taking a bite of food.

Nixie nearly choked on food as she laughed and Attie shot her a look.

"I don't really like titles…" Attie started.

"She's dating like three guys." Julia said smiling widely.

"Shut up home wrecker." Attie said jokingly and turned back to Keller. "She has a tendency to go for married guys."

"Actually she just likes married men. She doesn't date them." Nixie clarified. Jen nodded with her eyebrows raised.

"Nixie can't hold a guy for more than like three months." Attie continued.

"Hey my record is four!" Nixie exclaimed through laughter, pointing a fork at her friend. The others couldn't help but laugh as well.

An hour later, Attie found herself wondering around, lost yet again. Two marines were following her – since her usual guide/prison guard was else where – but she was too embarrassed to ask them for help. She had been looking for the gym when she stumbled into a large, gray room.

She gaped as she wondered slowly into the center of the room. Odd, cylinder shaped machines with one slanted edge were placed systematically over several levels leading to a large roof. She had no idea what the things did, but she couldn't help but notice they looked almost like a ship.

She walked slowly around the room, the two guards towing closely behind. There was a sudden popping noise and the mutterings of some foreign language she couldn't quite identify. She hurried over to the only noise in the room to see what had happened and who it was.

The flat end of the cylinder was dropped and she stood at the base of the fallen door, looking into the small ship. A short man stood alone in what she guessed was the back. He had a flashlight between his teeth, shining it on what only looked like a mess to Attie. Resting in one of his arms was a computer pad that she recognized from her time with Rodney; the other hand was embedded in his work. Square crystals were exposed from the gray settings; wires hanging limply from the frames.

"Are you alright?" Attie asked the man. He turned to her, looking startled, dropping the flashlight; he muttered again in the other language as it rolled under a seat. His hair was a mess around a balding spot at the back of his head; small, round glasses hung from his nose.

"Yes, I'm fine." He sighed in a heavy accent she almost immediately guessed was Czech. He bent over to see if he could easily find the flashlight.

"Here," she said eagerly walking inside. "Let me get that." She dropped to her stomach and reached under the seat in search of the small object. She quickly found it and handed it back to him.

"Thank you." He said with a smile. "I don't think we've met." He said studying her for a moment.

"No, we haven't." she extended a hand towards him. "I'm Attie." He shook her hand.

"Radeck. Are you one of the new arrivals?" he asked as he turned back to his work.

"You might call me that." She said stepping back to give him room; folding her arms as she did so. "I'm one of the three more… accidental visitors."

"Ah, yes, I've heard a lot about you." He said briefly smiling at her.

"Really?" she smiled. She couldn't help but wonder if Ronon had said anything. Although she doubted he spent much time with an obvious scientist.

"Rodney mentioned you once or twice. Apparently you can use both wraith and ancient technology."

"So I've been told." Her smile faded. "So what is this thing anyway?" she asked eager to change the subject.

"Puddle Jumper." He answered simply. "Space ship." He clarified at her confused pause. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, her eye brows pulled together.

"Did Rodney happen to say anything about how we got here?" she asked quickly.

"Power surge." He answered simply. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to explain. It didn't take him long to realize her silence. "There was a solar storm passing over the planet at the time. Rodney thinks that the energy from that must've, theoretically, knocked the path from your reality to ours."

"A solar storm?" she asked in disbelief. "We have them about three times a month; sometimes you can even see them with the naked eye. That's what landed us here? Are you sure?"

"Well, there's no real way to be exactly sure, but yes, all signs point to that."

"Huh." She looked thoughtful for a moment, letting that sink in. "I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from your work." She said abruptly, suddenly eager to be outside. "It was nice to meet you. And thank you." She said backing out of the puddle jumper.

"Nice to meet you too." He called as she quickly turned and disappeared.


	13. Trusting

**Trusting**

Attie stood on the pier, her back to the city. She closed her eyes as the wind blew the cold, sea air over her, blowing her hair back lightly. It was hard to believe that it had only been a week. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that a three day trip could turn into a life changing trek. As she stood, her eyes still closed, thoughts flew inside her mind.

Ten days ago, she had been sitting at home, typing away at her computer. Being a novelist had its ups and downs, but with that, plus being a zoologist, had kept her busy. Spending the day with animals, the nights with her friends or her laptop… life could've been so much better. Life had been such a sure, stable thing before. She had been planning on moving soon. She hadn't yet told anyone except her boss, but she had made all the arrangements to move to Alaska next month. She had a small, lake-side cabin a twenty minute ride from any civilization, including her job at an animal reserve. She was going to study wolves in the wild; dangerous but exciting. She thought about the irony in that. She wanting an exciting life before, but now a one in a life opportunity had come along, and now she wanted nothing more than to curl up on her own bed under the warm covers. She wanted to wake up from this terrifying nightmare. At least part of her did.

"Attie!" Julia squealed as she jumped on her from behind. Attie fell under the surprise weight, sending them both onto the hard wood. Nixie laughed from a safe distance.

"Julia, what the hell are you doing?" Attie exclaimed as she stood.

"Nothing," Julia said with an impish grin.

"Was that really necessary?" Attie couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yes." Julia practically hissed happily.

"What were you doing out here anyway? We couldn't find you anywhere." Nixie spoke up.

"Thinking," Attie answered honestly. "Something you're not very familiar with Julia." Julia frowned jokingly and they all laughed. Attie wondered if she'd ever stop feeling like a little kid around the two of them.

"So Nixie, hook up with Carson yet?" Julia asked out of nowhere. Attie laughed.

"That was random. But no, I haven't." Nixie answered.

"But you want to." Julia teased.

"Shut up!" Nixie said, playfully pushing Julia.

"No!" Julia pushed her back.

"Hey now!" exclaimed Attie as she stood between. "Let's not get physical here."

"But it's fun!" Julia cried as she jumped again on Attie, knocking them back to the ground.

"No it's not!" Attie yelled as she wrestled with Julia. The guards – a sum of six now – stood several feet away, unsure whether to intervene.

"Yes it is!" Julia jumped to her feet and grabbed Nixie around the shoulders. Attie quickly reacted in what she thought was probably the most childish way possible. She kicked Nixie's legs out from under her so that all three were on the floor. The guards started to move forward.

"Oh, come on. We're just having some fun." Attie told them and the stepped back again. The three wrestled for several minutes, completely engrossed in there boisterous laughter. Attie could've sworn she'd felt the vibrations of someone approaching but ignored the possible paranoia. Until an attention-getting cough sounded.

John stood with a half smile, along with a smiling Teyla and laughing Ronon. The guards were no where to be found. Attie, who was sprawled on her stomach between Julia and Nixie, was the first to realize the mocking group. She quickly scrambled to her feet, brushing herself off and fixing her clothing. Julia and Nixie, further disheveled by Attie's exaggerated exit from the pile, pulled themselves up as well. All three were still laughing.

"Sorry you had to see that…" Attie said with a wide smile.

"That was very… entertaining." Teyla teased.

"How long were you standing there?" Julia asked, a little embarrassed.

"Long enough," answered Ronon; Attie glared playfully at him.

"A few minutes," John said.

"Where's Rodney?" Attie asked, just noticing the fourth party's absence.

"He went to find Dr. Keller." Teyla told them.

"I should go find Carson." Nixie said, starting to feel uncomfortable as John and Julia smiled at each other. Attie and Ronon were more discrete about there distant flirting, but still seemed rather oblivious to anything that happened around them.

"I will walk you there." Teyla said picking up on the awkwardness. "You may want to fix your hair first." She joked as they walked away. Attie instinctively reached up to her own hair. Only by touch, she could feel the wild mess her hair had become in the wrestling match. She blushed at how much of an idiot she must look like to the giant standing in front of her.

"You looked like a troll!" Julia said breaking into laughter.

"Look who's talking." Attie glowered to hide her embarrassment. Ronon laughed again. "Shut up." she mumbled pouting.

"Come on, they'll be serving lunch soon." He said.

"Do you do anything but eat and spar?" she asked as they left the other two.

"I sleep."

"What a complex, interesting life you lead."

"Okay, you so let me do that." Attie complained. She and Ronon had been sparring for a little over an hour and she had finally managed to kick his legs out from under him.

"I did not." He said fighting a smile.

"Liar," she accused. "You know if you let me win, I'll never learn." He watched her from the floor with his eye brows raised at her anger. She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. "Please don't let me win, okay?"

"Fine." She bent over slightly and held out a hand to help him up. He took it and smiled. Her eyes widened but it was too late for her to protest. He pulled her to the ground and quickly rolled so that her hands were pinned on the floor on either side of her head; his body trapped hers beneath. "You said please." He said teasingly. She struggled against him but it was futile.

"I don't like you." She grumbled.

"I win." He said smiling smugly; she glared playfully at him.

"I wouldn't have minded if you had let me win one time…" she pouted.

"You can't have it both ways. I go easy on you or I don't." a challenge shot into his eyes. She weighed her options silently. On the one hand, she'd learn much more quickly if she pushed herself. But on the other hand, she knew that anyone, even someone much more coordinated, could get seriously hurt trying to keep up with Ronon. But that look in his eyes… She couldn't turn away from a challenge. It had gotten her in trouble before – especially in high school – but nothing she couldn't get herself out of.

"Don't," she challenged him with a look right back. This would end badly, she was sure of it. He smiled wickedly and she knew, beyond all doubt, she was in trouble.


	14. Getting Acquainted

**Getting Acquainted **

"So where to now?" Julia asked happily as she walked with John from the shooting range.

"I think after shooting that well, you get to pick." He answered sounding impressed. She had an amazing shot, he'd give her that.

"Sparring?" Her step had a small bounce in it for a moment.

"Alright." He agreed, smiling at her excited nature. There was a silence for a moment. "So, you've hardly told me anything."

"What do you mean?" she said, cocking her head to the side.

"Like…" he pretended to think for a minute. He knew exactly what question he wanted to ask, but he had to play it smoothly. "What do you do back home?"

"I'm a cop; FBI actually."

"Impressive."

"What about you? You're Air Force right?"

"Yep." He smiled; slightly smug. He asked a few more pointless questions to buy time. Finally, when they were close to the gym, he paused, feigning lost of thought. "What about family?"

"Little brother," she answered; it seemed they were past using complete sentences.

"Older brother," his tone changed slightly but she didn't press it. "And an ex wife." He added.

"Ooo." She grimaced. "That's rough."

"At least I don't have to see her much." She smiled at his attempt at a joke. "What about you? Any wives come after their husbands?"

"I'm going to kill Attie." She groaned. "I've never been married."

"Your boyfriend probably prefers that." He hinted.

"I don't have a boyfriend." She smiled a small smile at his lack of subtly.

"Oh?" he asked surprised. "Me either." He added before he caught himself. "I mean a girl friend." She barely suppressed a smile.

They finally reached the gym and John waved his hand over the control to open the door just in time to see Ronon throw Attie onto her back.

"Ronon!" John shouted from the doorway. Ronon only looked up with his eyebrows raised in question.

"Okay, that one hurt a little." Attie said from the floor, grimacing.

"You okay?" Ronon was the first to ask.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just waiting for the air to come back into my lungs." She answered without getting up.

"She told you not to go easy didn't she?" Julia guessed. Ronon only grinned and shrugged innocently. "Attie, you're an idiot."

"I like a challenge." Attie answered.

"He'd be a challenge if he fought you with one hand!" Julia exclaimed jokingly.

Ronon reached down gripped her wrist before pulling her to her feet easily. "She has a point." He smiled smugly, clearly amused.

"You're a jerk." Attie said, though her smile made it less convincing.

"You guys need the room?" Ronon asked of John who was watching with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah Julia wanted to spar." John said composing himself.

"We were just finishing anyway." Ronon replied.

"We were?" asked Attie who sounded confused.

"We're going to go for a run." Ronon smiled challengingly at her. "Unless you've had enough?" he taunted. Julia suddenly understood why she had told Ronon not to go easy.

"Let's go." Attie glared determinedly at Ronon. And like that, the two were gone.

"Should we worry?" asked John as he and Julia watched the pair rush past them and down a hall.

"Not unless Attie comes back in a cast." Julia replied. There was a crashing noise from the hall they had disappeared down as if in answer. Attie's voice rang out, stating that she was fine. Ronon's laughter trailed off as the two continued their run. With a last "Shut up!" sounded from Attie, the hall again became quiet.

"Which apparently wouldn't be a stretch…" Julia added.

"Don't worry," John started, leaning slightly closer and continued with a whisper. "Ronon knows his way to the infirmary pretty damn well."

"Why are you whispering?" Julia whispered back.

"Ronon," He cleared his throat and spoke normally. "Ronon has really good hearing." Julia nodded in understanding. She grabbed the bantos the other two had left out for them. She smiled and impish grin at John.


	15. Playing Angles

**Playing Angles**

"Hey Rodney," Started Nixie. She, Carson, Teyla, Rodney, Lorne, and Jen were the first at the table for dinner. Rodney looked up form his plate. "Any idea if you're going to be able to get us home?"

"I'm not even sure how the power from the storm got connected to the gate in the first place. It'll be a while." He finished and shoved a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Don't worry," said Lorne smiling comfortingly at her from Rodney's side. "McKay's pretty smart. He'll figure it out."

"Pretty smart?" Rodney demanded food still in his mouth. Carson made a disgusted face from across the table.

"Lovely," he said sarcastically.

"I'm the smartest guy on base, probably this universe." continued McKay, ignoring Carson.

"Being humble is not his thing." Jen explained to Nixie who was fighting a smile.

Attie and Ronon approached the table next; Ronon was striding easily along, Attie was quickly jogging behind.

"Hey," Ronon greeted the others. He pulled a chair out for Attie. "I'll go get some food." His face was mocking again. As soon as his back was turned Attie collapsed into the chair with a sharp breath.

"What the hell happened to you?" laughed Nixie.

"Never tell that guy not to go easy." Attie warned in response.

"What did he do? Beat ya'?" Carson asked sounding shocked.

"Kind of, yeah." She answered. "Then we ran. A lot."

Nixie broke into laughter and the others all looked at her in surprise.

"I don't run." Explained Attie, the only one not affected by Nixie's burst of uncontrolled laughter.

"She used to walk the mile in school." Nixie continued her laughter.

"What's she so amused about?" Julia asked as she pulled out a chair next to Nixie; John took the seat next to Julia.

"Ronon made me run." Attie answered easily.

"Oh, yeah." John recalled. "What was that you ran into anyway?"

"Good job Attie!" Nixie teased.

"A scientist with a cart of computers…" Attie mumbled under her breath. By the time Ronon returned, the whole table was snickering.

"What I miss?" He asked placing a tray piled with food that matched his own.

"Attie was telling us about your run." John answered trying to suppress his laughter. Ronon flashed her a smile but she was gaping at the mound of food in front of her.

"Something wrong?" asked Ronon. Her immediate thought was _you can't expect me to eat all this! _She closed her mouth, her jaw taunt, and forced a smile.

"No." She'd eat as much as she could; and no doubly pay for it later.

"So what did you do today Nix?" Julia asked, watching Attie from the corner of her eye. Was she really going to try and eat all that? The girl could eat when she wanted to, she'd give Attie that. She'd once seen her scarf down four large pieces of pizza, a half gallon of iced tea, and a bowl of ice cream. But that was in high school. She couldn't really expect to keep up with Ronon for long like this. Could she?

"Carson took me on a walk around the city. And Major Lorne took me to the shooting range while Carson was on duty." Nixie answered, watching Attie in the same way Julia was.

"So, Teyla, how's Torren doing?" John asked.

"He is fine, John. Thank you for asking." Answered Teyla. They were all slightly distracted by the red-head at Ronon's side that was shoveling down food.

"You're going to make yourself sick." Nixie commented finally.

"I am not." Attie said through a mouthful of food. Ronon tried not to laugh.

Most of the group finished within the hour; all except the determined Attie who had taken a solid 45 minutes to finish her meal. When she was finally done, she leaned back into her chair, sighing heavily. Somehow she had managed to eat every last piece of food on her tray. The others had stuck around, blaming it on the conversation, but they all knew that she was doing it to win some silent bet against Ronon and wanted to see who would win. Afterwards, they all sat around the table; Julia, Nixie, Jen, John, and Rodney all gave her surprised smiles while the others tried to hide faces of slight disgust. Ronon looked down at her with an impressed and admiring look. Julia and Nixie both looked at him, and at the same time, caught each other's eye. They weren't the only two to notice the change in the way the man looked at her.

"Attie, Julia, let's go get some fresh air." Nixie suggested. She acted like it was to help her overly full friend, but the three all knew there was more to it than that.

"If I can walk yes." Attie mumbled and she stood, grabbing a water bottle as she went.

"Okay spill." Nixie demanded as soon as the door closed behind them on the balcony.

"You may want to watch what words you use right now." Attie warned, folding her arms over her stomach.

"What exactly is going on between you and Ronon?" Julia specified excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Attie asked. "Nothing's going on between us. He was told to stay with me. He's just doing his job."

"Wait, he hasn't even left you alone at all?" Nixie asked.

"No, of course not. Not allowed to walk around unescorted remember?"

"John told me," Julia started.

"And Carson told me," Nixie interrupted.

"That we don't need escorts anymore." Julia finished.

"What?" Attie tried to stay calm. She feared that if she got upset, her stomach would turn.

"Mr. Woolsey gave the orders that were trustworthy or whatever." Julia told her.

"Ronon didn't tell you?" Nixie said with a hinting grin.

"No!" Attie lost her concentration and her stomach tightened. "Oh crap!" she flew to a nearby trash can. Once her stomach was empty again and she had rinsed her mouth with some of the water, she pulled her head from over the can and slid against the wall. "Don't tell Ronon." She ordered, feeling much better. "So what were you saying?"

"Why don't think Ronon told you?" Nixie asked grinning widely now.

"He probably doesn't trust me." She grasped at an excuse. They were both grinning impishly now. "Okay what?"

"He likes you." Julia sang.

"And you like him." sang Nixie in turn.

"I do not." Attie rolled her eyes. "He probably just thinks that it's my fault the wraith got into the city or something."

"Why did you eat all that then?" Julia asked.

"I was hungry." Attie insisted.

"Whatever," Nixie gave up momentarily; they knew this wasn't over. "Are you going to call him on it?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" Julia's smile faded.

"I don't think he'll tell me honestly. I have to figure it out on my own."

"You so like him." Nixie stated. Attie huffed a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"You defiantly like spending time with him." Julia pointed out.

"He's different." Attie shrugged.

"No duh he's different; he's a seven foot alien in a different reality." Julia said pointedly.

"Six foot four." Attie corrected without thinking. The others gave her a puzzled look. "It came up." The assuming smiles returned. "What? We talk. What's so weird about that?"

"Well, for one, I haven't heard two words from the guy since we got here." Nixie stated.

"What happened to him hating you anyway?" Julia questioned.

"Guess I grew on the guy. Ether that or he just likes to torture me." Attie answered, trying to sound nonchalant. Though she was afraid she was going to get sick again.

"So you guys have been 'bonding' I take it?" Nixie asked hinting there was more behind the words.

"Only in ways that risk my well being." Attie joked.

"Which with a guy that big…" Julia muttered.

"Julia!" Nixie and Attie sounded simultaneously.

"What, like you guys weren't thinking the same thing?" Julia accused.

"I bet Attie has." Nixie stated looking smug.

"You know what," Attie stood and, rinsing her mouth again, started back inside. "You don't even get a response to that."

"Where are you going?" Julia asked her departing friend.

"Well, I'm hungry again. Plus, I need to brush my teeth." Attie called back.

Attie soon returned to the table with a tray of more food and received a raised eyebrows and shocked expressions which she dismissed with a shrug. _Let them think what they will,_ she thought.

That night, Attie woke with a start from another vivid dream. The door suddenly opened and Ronon burst into the room. It was only then she realized how badly she was trembling and that tears were sliding down her face and neck.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked urgently as he rushed to her. She looked at him helplessly; her mouth gaping, a frozen feeling caught her words in her throat.

"They're back." She managed to choke out. His arms caught her as her sobs broke. He sat on the edge of the bed and tightened his arms around her, pulling her to his shoulder. "How…?" she couldn't get the right words through her tight lips.

"You were screaming in your sleep." He said gently laying his hand at the nape of her neck. Maj. Lorne suddenly entered the doorway, still in his pajamas looking disheveled.

"Are you two okay?" He asked out of breath.

"We're fine." Ronon answered, not pulling away. "Where are the others?"

"On their way to the control room," Lorne answered.

"We'll meet you there." Ronon told the startled Major and he disappeared.

"Ronon what's going on?" Attie demanded pulling away from him.

"I'll explain after you get changed." He stood and walked to the door. "I'll be right outside." The door shut and Attie was alone again. She had no idea what was happening but it obviously had the war-hardened Satedan worried. She quickly threw the blankets off of herself and flew into the bathroom, grabbing clothes on the way. Ten minutes later, she rushed fully dressed to meet the others.

"Ronon, what the hell is going on?" Attie demanded again as she shoved the small radio into her ear. Ronon grabbed her wrist and pulled her hurriedly in the direction of the control room.

"The wraith came out of nowhere about ten minutes before I got to you." He answered through clenched teeth. "They're in the farthest parts of the city."

"Crap!" Attie breathed terrified.

Finally, they running pair reached the control room. She ran with him to their friends' sides.

"Are you two okay?" Attie asked Nixie and Julia. They, John, Teyla, and Lorne were standing around Rodney who was yelling something at the frustrated cursing Czech beside him as they typed furiously at computers atop the counters. They all looked like they had just been woken up.

"We're fine." Julia answered.

"Well do something!" John ordered the arguing scientists.

"There is nothing we can do!" Rodney yelled back.

"How many are in the city?" Woolsey demanded. Attie jumped slightly, just realizing the man's presence.

"We have no idea!" Rodney's voice lowered an octave. "There is no way to know."

"We can't just send our people blind, sir." John stated.

"I know Colonel." Mr. Woolsey said thoughtfully. It wasn't lost on Attie that he was easily the calmest in the room.

"Some one want to catch me up real quick?" Attie more ordered than asked.

"Well," Rodney started condescendingly. "We know the wraith are in the city; but we have no idea where or how many because the life signs detectors aren't working right!"

"Any idea what reality they're from?" Attie asked.

"We think that they're from your reality." Ronon answered her.

"Okay." Attie bit the inside of her lip. "I have a really bad idea."

"No." Ronon was the first to catch on to what she was thinking.

"What?" Rodney looked around as they caught on one by one.

"She wants to connect with one of them." Ronon stated angrily, not breaking the eye contact he had with Attie,

"Just long enough to find out how many and where." She clarified.

"That could actually work." Rodney pointed out. John looked downward unseeingly as he weighed the options.

"No," Ronon repeated slowly; keeping his hard gaze on her.

"It's our only option." Attie fought to stay calm under his burning glare.

"Perhaps I could be the one…" Teyla offered.

"I'd have an easier time; being from the same reality and all." Attie gave her a small apologetic smile.

"Ronon," Teyla began shaking her head as if she couldn't believe the words she was about to say. "This may be the best option."

"Letting her risk her life is _not_ an option." Ronon growled.

"Maybe if three of us…" Julia started.

"No," Attie interrupted. "I'm the closest to them; I have the most of them in me. I have to be the one to do it."

"Sheppard," Ronon snapped; an obvious attempt to get his thoughts.

"Look Ronon," John began hesitantly. Ronon's glowering shifted to him. "I know it doesn't seem like the safest way, but this is our only shot…" Attie nodded; her stomach knotted tightly. He tapped the radio in his ear. "Carson, Attie's going to try and connect with a wraith for intel."

"Aye," they all heard the Scott agree sadly. "Send her down."

John nodded at the now very pale young woman before him. "You sure about this?" All Attie could do was nod.

"Attie," Ronon bowed his head close to hers. "We'll find another way."

"I'll be okay Ronon." She forced a weak smile. "I promise."


	16. Ready

**Ready**

After Attie was hooked up to a monitor and a machine to shock

her if need be, she finally asked for a pad of paper and a pen.

Jul, Nix, if you guys get home, tell my family… I don't know… that I died doing something important: saving lives and all that. Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye and for everything. And thanks for everything they've done. Thank you guys too. You guys are the closest, best friends I could ever have had. And I'm sorry I got you into this. But hey, maybe something good can come of this. Don't be idiots okay? Nix, tell Carson how you feel. And Ju, for the love of all things good in the world, pick a boy. For me? For what it's worth, I think John and you could have something real. I really am sorry for leaving you guys like this. If heavens real, and I manage to get in, I'll put in a good word. But, let's face it; it's a long shot for all of us.

Tell Ronon… tell him I wish I wasn't a chicken. Tell him that I'm so sorry I died before I got a chance to kiss him. I don't know if he'd think that was funny or offensive, but hey, what's he going to do to me right? I really wish I didn't have to leave so soon. But at least I'm going out for a good reason. And if things change, and there aren't that many wraith and I died for nothing, tell Rodney I'm going to haunt him.

Well, looks like its show time. Tell everyone I'll miss them. I love you guys. Goodbye.

Attie closed her eyes as tears welled behind them. She could hardly believe how final the last word felt. She folded the paper into fourths and handed it to Julia and Nixie.

"If I live through this, and you guys open that, I'll kill _you._" Attie said trying to keep the anxiety from her voice.

"Are you sure about this, love?" Carson asked for that last time. Attie nodded slowly.

"I'll have the easiest time out of everyone."

"It will not be easy." Teyla pointed out.

"I know. But it has to be me. I don't know why, but I just… this has to happen." Attie struggled for the words. "Ronon, maybe you should be with the marines. I'm sure those three can take care of any problems." she said nodding to the stunner equipped guards by the door.

"I'm not going anywhere." He stated flatly from his self appointed post at the base of the bed.

"Close your eyes." Teyla ordered gently, breaking the tension. "Picture your dreams in your mind. Concentrate on the feeling when they are close."

Attie did as told and after a moment of quiet, voices broke into her thoughts. A small gasp escaped her lips. "I can hear voices."

"Good," Teyla spoke softly. "Now focus on one."

Attie listened to the noise. They all seemed to intertwine to a point the words all became meshed within others. Then a voice broke through the knot of sounds. It was clearer, more distinct and untouched by the others. She focused wholly on that one voice, picking it out and holding it close in her mind until it seemed almost tangible. She could see what the wraith saw. "I'm trying to find something that says how many there are."

"Be careful." Teyla warned.

"There are thirteen wraith and twenty three drones at the far southwest point. They have cloaked ship hovering over the city." That was the last Attie was able to say. A hissing image abruptly flashed into her mind, severing any connection she had with Teyla and the others.

Attie suddenly inhaled sharply, arching her back and gripping the mattress until her knuckles turned a bone white. "Get her out!" Ronon demanded of Carson as he ran to the side of the infirmary bed. A guard disappeared from the room.

"It's not working!" Carson yelled back helplessly back looking horrorstruck. Attie's eyes opened suddenly. Ronon looked down at her, struggling for a way to help her. He gripped her shoulders. Her face was blank, but her eyes were more than evident of her pain. Light blue starred unfocused at a blank ceiling; glazed and tearing. The monitor's steady beating quickened.

"Stupid human," the wraith female hissed violently. She and Attie were alone in a thick, pitch, darkness. "You can not think that you can win." Attie ignored the hissing voice; fully concentrated on protecting her own mind now. "You are not strong enough to kill me."

"I don't have to kill you." Attie struggled to say. The Queen flashed from sight and reappeared behind Attie's statuesque form.

"You wish to leave my mind." The wraith mused. "Beg for your life."

Attie could feel herself being drained. She knew with increasing hopelessness that no one was coming for her. She would die in this silent black shadow.

"Attie! Fight this!" Ronon's voice echoed through the imaginary scene. The demand seemed too far to be real, but it was enough to make her imagine his face. The image was less real than the wraith, but it was real enough. The wraith hissed and spluttered away from her. Attie let herself long to see the perfect reality of his face, the warmth in his touch, the dream of his lips on hers. The Queen pushed back with her own memories of mass killings and feedings. Attie felt herself smirk as she fought with her own images. The first was simple; Nixie, Julia, and she were wrestling on the pier laughing. The image shifted with her thoughts to a picture of the team and friends smiling and talking in the mess. The next memory was one that lasted longer and stronger than the others. It was of Ronon pulling her to the ground and pinned her, using his weight against her. After it had faded, Attie imagined something that hadn't happened, but it was slightly more vivid than those that had. Ronon stood by an open casket; tears welling in his burning eyes; his dread locks pulled back from his face. His warm, dark hand held hers – pale, limp, and cold. Her face was serene over the deep crimson satin. The scene then extended to her friends that stood nearby. Julia cried into John's shoulder and Nixie into Carson's chest. Beside them, a mournful Rodney wrap an arm around the tearful Keller's shoulders. Teyla walked carefully to the casket and placed a comforting hand on the Satedan's shoulder.

The images faded and wraith's anger pushed against her own resolve.

Attie trembled under Ronon's hands. "She's seizing!" Carson yelled to the other doctors. Ronon quickly stepped away. The monitors of her heart became irregular and racing before it leveled to single long whine. "We're losing her!" Carson called. He began compressions on her chest as the defibrillator warmed.

"Clear!" Keller ordered. Attie's body jolted with the electric jolt. Keller yelled a higher voltage as Carson slipped an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. With another jolt, her heart beat again displayed on the monitor. "She's steady." Keller said, not moving from the limp girl as she watched the monitor.

Teyla watched her friend's face contort in anger. With no warning, he spun on his heels and rushed from the room.

As Attie slowly became aware of the darkness around her, hissing whispers meshed again. She remembered the noise, but it seemed different some how; farther. Closer voices met her ears and aching head. She kept her eyes closed and listened.

"The wraith used a power console of some kind to connect the power of a strong solar storm to their gate which was some how connected to the gate you entered." Rodney's was the voice she first heard. "That's all we can assume."

"And they had cloaking technology you said?" Julia asked sounding confused.

"Yes, this is why we couldn't sense them." Rodney stated sounding annoyed.

Unwilling to be in the darkness with the voices she knew to be wraith, she inched her eyes open.

"She's coming to!" Nixie yelled excitedly. There was a sudden rush of movement around her. By the time her eyes adjusted to the light, they were all gathered around the infirmary bed, watching her anxiously.

"How are you feeling?" Jen asked from beside her head on her right side. She looked around at the nervous faces. Jen, Rodney, Teyla, and finally John lined her right side. On her left, Nixie stood closest to the head of the bed, followed by Julia and Lorne. Behind them, Ronon stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a wary look found its way onto his features. At the base of the bed stood a cautious looking Mr. Woolsey.

"I have a headache." Attie answered in a rough, weak voice.

"I'll get you something." Keller replied before disappearing.

"What happened?" she asked as Jen quickly handed her two large pills and a glass of water.

"You were attacked mentally by a wraith queen when you tried to connect with her." Mr. Woolsey stated.

"How did I survive?"

"You held out until we got to them. Ronon was the first to get to her." John smirked. Attie looked over at the wary Satedan.

"Thanks," she said genuinely thankful. "I owe you one." He half smiled at her. The voices in her mind kept up their bantering. "You guys are sure you got them all?"

"We're positive." Lorne spoke up.

"Is there something wrong?" Teyla asked sounding concerned.

"I can still hear them." she said nervously.

"Well that's not good." Rodney said blatantly. The others all gave him a disapproving look.


	17. Moments on the Pier

**Moments on the Pier**

It had taken her several days in the infirmary under surveillance, and a few more in her own darkened quarters, but Attie had finally gotten the pestering voices under control enough to be ignored. The team found no evidence that her own thoughts were being read, but also nothing to explain why she still heard them. Rodney had guessed that it was almost like a radio malfunctioning: both ends were transmitting, but only one was receiving the information. Unfortunately for Attie, too many signals were fighting for her attention at once, giving her a constant splitting headache.

Originally, the dark privacy of her quarters was a relief. But after a long week with her headache subsiding slowly each day, she was finally well and bored enough to take a shower, get dressed, and venture into the outside world. Not to mention her visiting friends had been itching to have a girls' night for days and she had to admit she missed them.

So, now she was wandering the halls alone again, totally and completely lost - again. Due to the lack of people in the hall, she guessed that she had made a very wrong turn somewhere.

Just as she was about to turn a corner, a mumbling scientist spun from around it, knocking into her and sending them both the ground. "Sorry." The startled scientist picked up the computer pad she had dropped and rushed off.

"That's okay..." Attie trailed as she propped herself into a sitting position. She shook her head to regain her control on the others' thoughts and stood to try the corner again. She had just turned around it when a larger body crashed into hers. She spun to the ground once again, but the other only stumbled.

"Hey! Watch where you're... Oh Attie. What are you doing?" McKay asked in his quick-worded voice.

"Getting knocked on my ass repeatedly apparently." She grumbled in response.

"Oh, sorry about that." He said and pulled her to her feet.

"It's fine. What were you running from anyway?"

"We're out here searching some of the unexplored areas of the city. It's amazing there's still some left." Attie nodded, feigning interest. Being a tech major in college, she loved technology as much as the next person, but her head was still reeling from her getting knocked over twice. "So, how are you feeling? Still hearing those...?" he gestured to his head.

"Better, and yes," she answered honestly. "Thanks for asking."

"I've been there." He stated; Attie raised her eyebrows. "I had another consciousness in my head once. That was a nightmare, let me tell you. Well I guess I don't have to huh?" he said catching himself.

"Guess not." Attie said taking the advantage to speak as he took a breath.

"Well I best be off; lot's to do and all that. See you at dinner?" he rushed off before she had a chance to reply. She watched as he disappeared down the hall. She shook her head and began to walk again.

She had only taken two steps before another body - harder and larger than the last two - collided with hers at what felt like full force. Her body was thrown backwards before she fell onto her back; the breath fled from her chest.

"Okay, this time I'm not getting up!" she said in irritation as her breath returned.

"What are you doing out here?" She looked up to see Ronon towering above her. For a moment, her body responded with embarrassment, but she quickly remembered how many times she had fallen in front of him

"I'm starting to wonder that myself." She stated, still sprawled on the ground.

"Lost again?"

"Terribly so," she answered.

"I was just finishing a run. Want to come along?"

"God no," she replied.

"Headed for the pier?"

"Sure... we'll go with that." She agreed.

"I'll walk with you; unless you'd rather lie here all day?" She rolled her eyes and reached for his extended hand only to have a shocking spark light the space between them.

"Damn," Attie said pulling her hand away. "That was a big spark." He nodded in the same awe her voice held. "Try again?" He reached his hand back out to her. He pulled her to her feet easily.

"How's your head?" he asked as they walked.

"It's um... been emptier." She answered with an easy smile.

"Is Teyla still helping you?"

"She's trying." With a wave of Ronon's hand, the doors slid open to reveal the long stretch of pier. To her relief, he kept walking with her. "It's kind of hard to concentrate; they're very uncooperative."

"Maybe you're just trying to hard." He suggested.

"You think I need to be more relaxed?" He shrugged and she looked thoughtful for a moment before stopping suddenly and laying stomach down on the pier's surface.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she folded her arms beneath her head and closed her eyes.

"It would seem I'm trying to relax." She stated matter-of-factly.

"You're going to try now?" he said with an amused tone.

"Good a place as any. Besides, the ocean's always been the most relaxing noise and smell."

"Alright," he gave in and sat beside her. "But shouldn't you sit?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to try to hard." She retorted. He raised an eyebrow and paused. After a moment, her eyes snapped open to look at him. She sighed theatrically and flipped over, laying her arms at her sides. "Happy?" His lips pulled slightly at the corners. She closed her eyes again and tried to concentrate. It was almost immediately that the voices grew louder. She retried the thing that had saved her from the queen, but it seemed not to be enough. The voices seemed to scream inside her head and she couldn't hold onto a picture.

Ronon watched as he hovered closely. He could see her eyes moving beneath her closed lids and wondered what it was she was seeing. He wanted more than anything to be able to help her, but he knew that there was nothing to be done; she'd have to do this on her own. It wasn't that he thought her weak or incapable, it was only that he wished that she didn't have to be so strong; he wanted to be able to protect her in everyway. And that was a mystery of its own to him. He had no idea what it was, but something in her eyes, some unspoken hesitance, just made him want to shield her from anything that would cause any kind of harm to her. It had been about a month since her first day here and it seemed too long for such a short time. But he could remember that exact look in her eyes the second she arrived. The terror and confusion were expected, what had surprised him was the glint of happiness in her eyes. It was the same look he'd expect to see in an adventurer that had just stumbled on the greatest treasure she'd ever seen. But when her eyes had locked with his, he saw something in them that was completely unexpected and indescribable. He had figured that that was the reason he hadn't liked her at the start; but now he just chalked it up to over suspicion. He knew now, after last week especially, that no matter what happened, Attie would fight. And as long as he was alive to do so, he'd be sure that she won. Looking over her now, he knew he wanted her to stay.

"This isn't working." Attie complained, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Talking won't help." He told her. he stretched and laid down on his side next to her.

"I wanted to thank you, by the way." She continued - her eyes still closed - ignoring him. "You saved my life last week. I know you weren't happy that I tried something so risky." There was a un-place able tension in her voice. "When you yelled for me to fight... I heard you. If you hadn't... if you had given up on me, I would have too." He moved so that his forehead was against her hair. She blindly found his hand beside her and laced their fingers slowly together. Her head tilted slightly upward and his lips met hers in a slow, soft kiss. Their hands pulled apart and his slid over her waist so that his arm rested over her. Her hand lay briefly on his chest and moved to his neck as the kiss deepened. The kiss soon became more and more passionate and Attie let her mind go numb and thoughtless.

"Attie are you out here?"

Julia's voice snapped them both mid-kiss. Their arms were wrapped around the other, pulling them closer together. With a groan of reluctance into his chest, Attie pulled away.

"Yeah, I am." She called, trying to suppress any annoyance she felt from showing in her voice. With an apologetic look to Ronon, she lay back and he did the same.

"Hey," Julia said as she came upon the lounging pair.

"Hey, everything okay?" Attie asked a little rushed.

"Yeah, I just wanted to remind you of the movie tonight. You're coming right?" Julia asked cheerfully. Attie nodded. "We were going to get some food first." She nodded toward the city doors.

"Go ahead in, I'll catch up." Attie said forcing a smile.

"Okay," Julia said, suddenly suspicious. Attie immediately knew why, however. Julia had been one of the very few who could see through her. Julia turned and walked back to the city.

"Sorry." Attie apologized as she stood.

"Hang on a second." Ronon stood as well and reached into his pocket. When he lifted his hand out, his fist was closed tightly around something. "Here." He held the closed fist - fingers downward - over her open palm and dropped its contents. In her hand, a braided string of black leather was wound around a bleached white object. She carefully unwrapped the leather and studied the long object in slight disbelief.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

"Wraith finger bone," he answered leaning backwards in an innocent shrug; she silently made a mental note of how it made her stomach do flips when he made that face. "If it's too..."

"Help me put it on." She interrupted any doubt he had in mind. He lifted the necklace from her hand and she turned her back to him. He raised it over her head and laid it gently on her chest. She pulled the hair out of his way and he tied the two ends a few extra times to ensure it wouldn't loosen. "How does it look?" she asked stepping away from him.

"Good," he smiled lightly. He moved to kiss her again.

"Attie are you coming?" Julia's voice rang out.

"I'll be there in a sec!" she yelled back unable to hide her irritation. "Looks like I got to go." She smiled ruefully at him before backing up a few steps and then hurrying to where her impatient friend waited.

A few hours later, Attie was glad to finally be back in her lonely quarters. She had had fun, but as she guessed they could tell her mind was elsewhere. Julia, Nixie, Teyla, Jen and herself had made up the group, so it was no surprise that many jokes were made at her expense when Julia had mentioned how she had found Attie laying with their giant Satedan friend. She hadn't appreciated them much, but she had taken them in stride, laughing and making her own jokes as well.

After a shower - a failed attempt to clear her head - she laid down on her bed and pulled the covers well over her shoulders. It took about an hour of tossing and turning to find a comfortable spot, and when she finally started to doze off to sleep, a chime rung out inside her room. She groaned loudly. "I'm coming!" she called out and trudged to the door. She dropped her hand over the sensor and the doors slipped open.

"Ronon," she said his name as if saying it would make it more fathomable. "What are you doing here?"

"I... uh... Oh screw it." He wrapped his arms fully around her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. He pulled away after a moment. "Sorry."

"Yeah... don't be." She smiled and pulled him back into another kiss. After a few more passionate minutes, Attie finally jumped up and Ronon lifted her to wrap her legs around his waist.

Attie felt him walk forward, but the sound of the doors closing behind them sounded too far way for her to care.


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

"Hey there everybody!" Attie exclaimed as she joined the breakfast table. Julia looked up from her food tray sleepily.

"You're in a good mood." Julia said with suspicion.

"My headaches gone." Attie said almost triumphantly.

"I am glad to hear that." Teyla smiled warmly.

"About time, you've been no fun." Nixie chimed in. By her own expression, Julia could tell she wasn't the only one that suspected something more than the alleviation of a headache to be the source of Attie's happiness.

"Congrats," Lorne smiled.

"What they said." Smiled John.

"Here, here." Rodney spoke with a full mouth.

"Do you have to talk with a full mouth Rodney?" Carson asked making a face of disgust.

"Yes," Rodney said pointing a fork in his friend's direction, flipping a piece of food at him.

"Very mature Rodney." Carson scolded as he brushed the food from his white coat.

"It was an accident! I swear!" Rodney protested.

"Bloody hell it was." Carson mumbled.

"It was!" Rodney insisted.

"Let it go guys." Jen interceded.

"What I miss?" The table barley paid the newest comer attention. However, Julia was paying enough to see the smile grow on Attie's face as Ronon took the empty seat next to her. Julia looked over at Nixie who had seen the happy exchange as well.

"Rodney 'accidentally' flicked food at Carson." Attie summed up. Julia also didn't miss how the hands that happen to be closest to the other – Attie's left and Ronon's right – disappear under the table.

After the meal was finished, the table gradually dispersed. The team was the last to leave, and with after a peck of the lips from John, Julia caught the wink Ronon gave Attie as he parted.

"Oh, my God," Nixie whispered into Julia's ear. "Do you think…?" Julia shrugged. When Attie finally turned back, her eyes widened as she was faced with two impish grins.

"You guys look really creepy." She said tonelessly.

"Spill." Julia ordered.

"Everything." Nixie demanded.

"What are you guys talking about?" Attie said feigning innocence. She smiled into her food. "Nothing happened between me and Ronon last night."

"Then how did you know what we were talking about?" Julia sang. Attie looked up bashfully.

"Finally!" Julia and Nixie yelled.


End file.
